Getting Rid of Fuwa Shoutarou
by lechat23
Summary: Kyouko was downright annoyed. Ren was pissed off. All because of Fuwa Shoutarou. He kept appearing in their lives. Some damages on Kyouko and Ren's relationship were done. Both of them had enough. They wanted nothing to do with him. For all they know, Shoutarou could go to hell. They wanted to get rid of him. Both realised something needed to be done.
1. The First Victory

**Disclaimer : I don't own Skip Beat!**

**As my beta reader pointed out and with our several issues in the beta reading, I'd like to tell you that all grammar and terms are mostly in UK English. UK and US have slight different grammars and terms. Not because I preferred UK English more than US English, it's just because I was taught UK English with Cambridge (and Oxford) curriculum at schools from age 10. ^ ^**

* * *

**The First Victory**

Kyouko was dreading the day when she had to take off her Setsuka's façade. That would only mean she had to face her esteemed Tsuruga _senpai_ as herself anytime soon.

She couldn't stop thinking about their encounter the other night. Ren was very angry. She didn't know who he was. He wasn't Cain _niisan_. But to say that he was the Tsuruga Ren she knew seemed wrong as well. On top of that, he stirred the feeling that she had wanted to forget for the rest of her life.

She felt like she was standing on the edge of a cliff. With so many thugs surrounding her, asking her to either surrender or jump off the cliff. She really didn't want to do either, but she no longer had a choice, she was backed onto the edge where she would fall off the high cliff anytime soon.

When they were walking the distance to the studio these past two days, her hand laced with his, the feeling got stronger. It increased with each passing day. Was it love?

No, she didn't want to admit it at all. She didn't want to feel hurt again. She thought Shou loved her or he wouldn't ask her to come with him to Tokyo but she was wrong. He was only using her. He needed somebody to cater to his primary needs. She wasn't going to do the same mistake twice. Ever.

But…She stared at the mirror. Her face flushed a light shade of red. The feeling was too strong to be ignored.

She wanted to scream "kyaa" out loud for behaving so shamefully towards Ren. He was her esteemed _senpai_. She couldn't get over the fact that she had stripped him off his shirt, lied on top of him, bitten him and left a hickey on his neck. She was so embarrassed she wanted to die that instant. _How could I? How could I?_ She screamed inwardly.

She wanted to drape herself in a cocoon and never stepped out of the bathroom again. Tonight they would have to part way since they wouldn't be needed for the next two days.

She sighed and put the towel on top of the bathroom counter. She picked up her black knickers and stretched it wide. She cringed inwardly. _Uh!_ She was reminded of Chiori's comment when she bought the knickers. _If not for this role, I wouldn't even consider __wearing__ it. It indeed is lewd._

She shook her head. _I need to be fast. Tsuruga-san would wake __up__ anytime soon. I also have to make breakfast. I'm lucky that Cain niisan is a sleepyhead and had never woke up earlier than Setsu__,__ so __I don't have to worry about__ bathroom incident. I can rest assured but I still have to __get ready__ fast. It __will__ be a total disaster if it ever happens._ She bent down and got both her legs into the knickers when she heard the bathroom door opened.

* * *

Cain got into the bathroom. He looked dishevelled and sleepy. He yawned and scratched his belly. He wouldn't have realised that he was entering an X territory if he hadn't heard soft rustle noise and some black material fell in between a pair of creamy legs.

He rubbed his eyes, trying to sober up. Since he was still drowsy, a minute passed before he fully realised what was going on before him. He sobered up that instant. His eyes widened in recognition. He jerked his head and found a certain orange haired girl freeze in her place with her both hands on the middle of her calves. He put two and two together and realised that the girl was putting on her underwear when he was entering the bathroom. He froze.

* * *

Kyouko was so shocked that her knickers fell off to her ankles. Her first instinct was to scream right away. She had nothing on her. No wigs, contacts or make up. She hadn't even finished putting on the first clothing material on herself. Simply put, she was actually Kyouko, not Setsu. _Setsu!_ She summoned her alter ego desperately since it was the best she could do to cope with this situation.

Setsu's cold gaze and expression came back. She stared right into Cain's eyes and smiled.

Cain –Ren – resisted an urge to gulp though he managed to greet her calmly, "Morning, Setsu."

He tried hard to keep his eye contact. He stared right into her eyes, trying to resist looking at the rest of her naked glory. She was much shorter, so it was hard to overlook the rest of her body. It got harder when she started pulling her knickers up her legs achingly slow. He couldn't resist following her hands movement till her underwear covered all her lower parts, barely decent. It was such a tiny piece of clothing after all.

"Morning, _niisan_. Has hell frozen over? You are early this morning." _Hurry up! Put on your clothes! It's embarrassing! _Kyouko shouted at herself inwardly.

Setsu ignored inner Kyouko. She cocked her hips to the left and put her left hand on her hip. "You need to use bathroom I presume?" She looked composed and nonchalantly started to put on her bra. Nothing betrayed her expression though the real Kyouko was screaming in shame. She even adjusted the cups with ease whilst delivering a coy smile at Cain. _Just kill me now!_

Watching her putting on her underwear was a battle with his sanity. All her movements seemed spontaneous but it almost threw him off. _This girl…_Ren thought inwardly. _Right. Didn't I tell myself that I __would__ do my best __to match__ my act with hers? _"Yeah, right. Put on your clothes, Setsu. You'll get a cold if you keep parading half naked like that."

"I was about to, but _niisan_, you interrupted me." She shrugged. "And it will be your fault if I get a cold." _What are you talking about, Setsu? _Kyouko yelled at her.

"I guess so," Cain said but didn't move from his place at all. "My bad but I was in a hurry to use the bathroom."

Setsu nodded then took her top and started putting it on as well, ignoring Cain's presence.

As if on cue, Cain said, "Make it quick!" He then took a step back and shut the door close.

"Yeah, yeah. 3 minutes, 5 tops." He heard Setsu answer him.

* * *

_What's just happened? _Ren asked himself. _She's… _He groaned inwardly when he realised how aroused he had become. His trousers felt tight and uncomfortable. He covered his eyes in despair. He saw it all. He didn't mean to but he couldn't avert his eyes from her body. It was not that he never saw a naked woman before, but since it was Kyouko, it was different. Kyouko made him imagine things he had never imagined. He hoped that she didn't notice the bulge in his trousers. He was kind of grateful that it was dark coloured.

It wasn't long before the memory of her naked torso burnt into his mind. The small yet firm round breasts with dark pink taut nipples, probably due to the cold, that slim waist, narrow hips and the dark nest of curls on the apex of her pale long legs. He was in deep trouble. Their stunts as the Heel siblings would still go on for months after all. How could he stay calm around her for the mean time? It was an ultimate torture.

_It's a thong, right? I don't know but it barely covers her… Don't go there! _He told himself._ She actually wears that kind of underwear? Or she only __wears__ it when she's playing Setsu?_ He couldn't help wondering about that. He always thought of her as sexy in that skimpy outfit but never dared to guess what was underneath it to save his sanity, till this moment when he finally found out. He was genuinely surprised with her choice of underwear.

He almost laughed when he was suddenly reminded of his own shock when she walked in on his shower. She was used to walking in on him afterwards, and with no expression at all. He noticed that she had always kept her eye contact and never let her eyes wandered down lower than his chin.

"_Niisan_, your turn," her voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

Ren almost jumped in surprise when Setsu emerged in her skimpy top and low hip leather slacks. Her make up perfectly done. Her wig attached firmly. _So fast!_

"Okay. Thanks." He patted her head and got into the bathroom.

When he was inside and glanced over at the mirror, his hand automatically lifted towards his neck. He blushed when he touched the place where she left the mark. The mark had started fading but if he looked carefully, it was there.

* * *

Kyouko felt blushes threaten to creep onto her cheeks. She had to summon all her courage to stay calm. How embarrassing it was for her to be naked in front of Ren. _Cain_ _niisan_, she corrected inwardly. She kept telling herself that it was Cain, her _niisan_, not Ren whenever the memory was coming back.

She even convinced herself that it probably meant nothing to him after seeing how calm he was. She was almost angry at his reaction though when she did the knickers pulling up stunt, she felt his eyes following her hands. Yet, he stood still with his poker face.

Even if she wasn't attractive, how come he didn't have any reaction at all? She mused. Not even a dirty comment guys usually had had come out from his mouth. She had thought that Cain _niisan_ would tease her or something. Not that she expected him to act like he was interested in her sexually. But… he really viewed her as a kid? It was infuriating, even for her.

She bit her jam covered toast grudgingly._Wait a minute! Why do I have to be so disappointed over this? Uh! He's Tsuruga Ren, Japan's most desirable man. He wouldn't even look twice at me. I hate to admit that but it's apparently right! _

Meanwhile…

Ren sighed inwardly. He was desperately trying to maintain Cain's character. He tried his best to pay attention to his food but he couldn't help stealing glances at her. Secretly. She didn't seem to notice his looking at her.

_Calm as usual. So, it's really nothing to her but role playing? I wonder till what degree this act will develop? I thought last time we had already gone __too__ far. I was wrong, apparently. Is sky the limit?_

* * *

Later the night after Jelly was finished with removing Kyouko's disguise…

She thanked Jelly and stepped out of the van. She saw Lory and Ren talking or to be exact, staring at each other. They looked serious. They lifted their heads and turned their heads at her direction when they noticed her presence.

Lory patted Ren's back and gave him a long stare. He then gave up since he couldn't make the actor talk. He walked towards Kyouko and nodded when Kyouko bowed at him. Lory patted her head and left them.

Kyouko was dreading this moment, when she was left alone with Ren. They seemed to have resolved their problems when she managed to turn him back to Cain, Setsu's beloved brother. Though she didn't want to remember what had happened afterwards, that morning's incident was still hammering inside her head. She wanted to disappear.

She stood stiffly in her place. She didn't know what to do. She was scared.

Ren seemed to notice her discomfort. They were in a car parking area again and the memory of Kyouko sitting in the same car with his archenemy disturbed him. He was still wondering about the nature of the two's relationship. He wanted to get the answer from her mouth over the question he asked when he was supposed to be Cain. She didn't deny it then and instead she distracted him and made him turn back into Cain. He was thankful that he managed to seal Kuon back, though it was all thanks to her.

"Mogami-san, why don't I give you a ride home? It's already late," Ren began. "It's not safe for a girl to wander alone at night."

"Eh?" Kyouko was surprised. She hesitated. If she said okay, they would be alone and… "Um…" Alarm started to ring loudly inside her head. _No, I can't!_ she answered inwardly.

Ren didn't want to wait for her to answer him. She probably wanted to reject his offer but he would persuade her if she started talking nonsense about imposing on him. It was already late and close to midnight.

Lory and Jelly had left. Lory knew about his strange behaviour though he didn't want to discuss it at all. That old man probably had guessed that his strange mood had something to do with Kyouko and left them alone to sort it out. _Sly conniving old man!_ Though he thought so, he almost smiled at it.

He pulled himself together and walked towards her. He stopped right before her and still at an arm length, and held out his hand to her. "Come!"

She lifted her head, stunned, and stared right into his dark eyes. She felt like she was being hypnotised by the depth. She stepped towards him and took his hand. He gripped her hand tight and pulled her with him. Not long after, they were leaving the hotel's car park in his sleek silver sports car.

* * *

Ren drove in silence. He really wanted to take her somewhere secluded, pushed her to a corner and demanded answers to all his questions.

Kyouko hugged her bag tightly to her chest. She wasn't at all comfortable being alone with him. She didn't know why she agreed to his demand. She stole a glance at him and saw his somewhat strained face. She became even more scared.

And then she remembered about her own stunt as Setsu earlier the morning. Her face was hot. _I hope he's forgotten it!_

Both with their own tumults and no one seemed to have the courage to say something to break the silence. Both were fighting with their own inner mind. And the drive was ended when they arrived right before the street near Daruma-ya.

Ren stopped his car. Both of them still didn't move or say anything.

"Mogami-san, we've arrived," Ren finally said.

"Eh?! Sorry. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. Thank you for giving me a ride, Tsuruga-san." Kyouko turned her body towards Ren's direction and bowed profusely whilst Ren didn't know what to say to her aside from "Okay. You're welcome, Mogami-san."

She then quickly turned back and fumbled with the car's handle. She managed to get out of the car and shut the door firmly. She ran a little and stepped onto the pavement. She turned and bowed deeply to him.

Ren nodded from inside of his car and drove off, leaving a slightly nervous Kyouko behind. Kyouko let out of the breath she was holding. "What a day!"

* * *

Ren wasn't very far from where he dropped Kyouko off when he heard a buzzing sound. He ignored it at first since he thought it was his mobile phone and he would just let it go through the voicemail. But then he remembered that he hadn't turned his mobile phone on. _It's hers?_

He slowed his car and pulled over at the nearest stop. He neutralised the gear lever and pulled the handbrake. He stared down and looked around as the phone was still buzzing. He found the pink mobile phones near the gear lever. _Must __have fallen__ down when she was bowing profusely._ He chuckled.

He picked up the buzzing phone and flipped it open. When he saw the unlisted number, his temper flared. _Fuwa!_ He thought. The buzzing stopped and Ren let out a deep breath. _Darn it! _He swore inwardly when he saw 3 missed incoming calls on the phone's screen. His eyes flickered to the car dashboard. It displayed 23.15.

He flipped the phone close and shoved it into his coat's breast pocket. He decided to turn around and deliver the phone back. Might as well finish what he had started the other day. It was like a chance to satisfy his curiosity.

* * *

Kyouko walked slowly towards Daruma-ya front door after watching Ren's car left. She sighed. She almost reached the door when she heard footsteps approaching her.

She lifted her head and found a furious Shou. Her eyes narrowed. "What do you want from me?"

"Why didn't you pick up your phone?"

Kyouko pursed her lips tight. She didn't want to deal with Shou right now. He had already made it hard for her to deal with Ren. She toughened herself. "I just didn't want to."

"Have you ever stopped and considered that I might be worried when you didn't pick up your phone?" Shou sighed. "Where have you been?"

_Uh! That's a low blow but I don't want to believe it after last time._ "It's not your business, Shoutarou." Kyouko snapped at him, "And have your ever stopped and considered that I might be asleep when you tried to call at such ungodly hour? You might have the luxury to sleep in everyday, Fuwa Shoutarou, but I have school and work, some people have a life, unlike you." Glaring at him, Kyouko continued, "Besides, why would you worry about me? What's there to worry about?"

"Well, he didn't… what I meant is…" He was suddenly confused. He had it lined out in his head. He was concerned that Tsuruga Ren might do her harm considering how angry he had looked the last time he tried to rile him up in that car park. He had been trying to reach her but her mobile phone was out of service and she didn't come home or at least that was what her landlord told him. He was worried for her safety.

Kyouko tapped her right foot impatiently. "I have nothing to talk to you about. Excuse…" Her breath hitched when Shou pulled her left hand and put it on top of her head. "What do you want, Shoutarou?" She glared at him.

Shou smirked and lowered his face towards her whilst Kyouko was trying to slip off. She refused to be manhandled like she was some weakling. She considered her options.

Shou was about to open his mouth when a deep voice intercepted him. "I warn you to take your hands off her, Fuwa-san."

Both Shou and Kyouko jerked in surprise. Kyouko almost slipped since her right foot was suspended in the air. She had planned to kick Shou away.

Shou let go of Kyouko's hand and turned to stare at the intruder.

Ren stood tall and stared at them. His lips pursed tight into a thin line. His fists clenched hard till he could hear his knuckles crackle. He was trying to tamp down his anger. He never once thought that he would find Fuwa at Kyouko's front door.

Meanwhile, Kyouko rubbed her reddened left wrist and her fear came back full force. She trembled a little unknowingly. _Oh no! Oh no! Tsuruga-san will get even angrier than last time. This is the worst!_ Her fear doubled when she heard Ren's approaching steps.

Ren kept his eye contact with Shou. He smiled and turned to Kyouko, completely ignoring Shou. "Kyouko, sorry. I changed my mind. I think that you'd better stay with me tonight instead of going back to Daruma-ya. It's silly to separate now and meet up several hours later if we're going on a date tomorrow."

Kyouko was baffled though if she was surprised it didn't show on her face. _Tsuruga-san called me Kyouko? And what? Staying with him tonight? Meet up later? Going on a DATE tomorrow? I don't understand! _

Shou narrowed his eyes. _What's Tsuruga Ren playing at? Is he trying to tell me that they're dating? Ha! Like I'd believe it?_

"Come!" Ren held out his right hand.

Kyouko stared at his hand and then stole a glance at Shou. She was confused. If she refused to go with Ren, Ren would get angry and she sure didn't want to deal with Shoutarou right now. But if she left with Ren, what would happen?

Shou seemed about to open his mouth but he was interrupted by Kyouko. Kyouko made a quick decision and took Ren's offered hand. "Oh yes. Now you mention it. It's just several hours. Kind of silly of me, don't you think? You're right, Ren. I guess it's better to stay with you tonight."

Ren chuckled. "Moreover, you forgot your mobile phone, Kyouko. I thought to just deliver it to you, but then again, a situation came up. It's really better to stay with me tonight. That way, I can rest assured that you're safe." He purposely insinuated that Fuwa was a threat to Kyouko and he could hear Shou's teeth gritted in anger. He almost smiled at that.

Kyouko smiled. _Okay, I'm confused. But if it gets me out of here now, I have to be grateful. _She shuddered inwardly. _Though I don't know what Tsuruga-san is planning._ "Shall we go?"

"Sure." Ren smiled back and he laced his fingers through hers.

They were staring at each other and completely ignored Shou's presence. They turned their backs at Shou and started to walk away.

"Are we forgetting something?" Kyouko asked when Ren stopped suddenly.

"Fuwa-san!"

"Oh that's right!" Kyouko giggled.

They let go of each other's hands and swivelled. They said in unison. "Fuwa-san, please excuse us." "Shou, please excuse us."

They swivelled back without waiting for Shou's answer and laced back their fingers. They walked slowly, heading towards Ren's car. Ren squeezed her hand and her heart beat accelerated. She stared up at him and found him stare back at her tenderly. "Let's get away for now!"

She nodded. "Un."

* * *

"_Kuso_!" Shou spat when he saw the two of them vanished before his eyes. He was really pissed off for being ignored and treated like he was a nuisance. "I won't forget this, Kyouko!"

* * *

**A/N : Hi! I'm back with a new fic. Yes. As you've seen in the title. It's about getting rid of the guy who's always bothering them. Inspired by the recent chapters from 190 to 197 but it wouldn't be strictly following the plot. Too close and if I were to write it strictly following it, it wouldn't be a story.**

**I hope you enjoy reading this new fic of mine. Leave a review if you'd like. **

**Thanks to Shiroyuki76 for the proofreading and the suggestion on several parts of this chapter.**

**I wonder why. Some of the words were missing after I uploaded it. =.= I've got to fix it. Sorry.**

* * *

_**Note on terms :**_

_**Kuso : Shit!**_

_**Niisan : Older brother**_


	2. The Second Victory

**Disclaimer : I don't own Skip Beat! **

* * *

**The Second Victory**

Another awkward silence stretched inside the car on the way to Ren's apartment. Both of them still didn't talk, not even discussing about the way they ditched Shou.

Ren glanced at the girl on his passenger seat. He was relieved that Kyouko had actually played along with him. He had to admit that he had acted on impulse and called Kyouko by her first name to piss Fuwa off. He hoped she wasn't angry about that. It wasn't an act on his part because since he found out she was the little girl of his past he had wanted to call her by her first name but still... if she didn't react fast and took his offered hand and answered with that line… He didn't want to imagine how smug Fuwa Shou could be. He was grateful that she reacted the way he wanted her to.

His mouth twitched into a small smile when he remembered Shou's expression throughout his and Kyouko's conversation when they completely ignored his presence. _Take that, Fuwa Shou!_ It was probably childish of him but he wanted to savour this moment of glory in his mind.

Meanwhile, Kyouko sat stiffly like there was a stick up her arse. She was busy scolding herself inwardly for calling Ren by his given name. _Twice! __That was__ the second time I'd called Tsuruga-san by his first name. I __hope__ he isn't angry._ She stole a glance at Ren and sighed inaudibly. She felt headache and fear were coming back at once. _Why did Shoutarou appear at Daruma-ya's front door? And at __that__ time? Tsuruga-san will definitely misunderstand me again. I didn't even get to explain last time._

"Um… Tsuruga-san," Kyouko said with small voice.

"Hmm?"

"Do I really have to stay at your place tonight?" she asked incredulously. "I don't want to impose on you."

"Do you really want to go back there?" His voice sounded calm since he didn't want to scare her further. He could sense her fear. "He might be still lurking around." He felt contradicted. He saw Fuwa manhandled Kyouko so there was no way Kyouko would want to go back after that. He mused.

"Err…" she hesitated. She didn't want to go back there. To her, Shou was harmless but she didn't want to deal with him. Not when it made Ren angry. She didn't want him to misunderstand her, again. She supposed she had a lot of things to explain to him but she didn't know how to start.

Before any of them could say anything, they heard the buzzing voice.

"It's your mobile phone and…probably from Fuwa again," Ren said. He tightened his hold on the steering wheel. His knuckles whitened. "Since he's probably the only one who would call you at such ungodly hour. You two must be so close that he'd actually call at midnight." His voice sharpened. He didn't mean to snap so soon but the nonstop buzzing disturbed him, especially since he was sure that it was from Fuwa.

Kyouko winced. _He definitely misunderstood me._ She looked over at his expression and shifted uncomfortably when she saw his lips pressed together into a hard line. She could only stare at him, hoping the buzzing voice would stop soon.

Ren's patience ran out. He took the buzzing mobile phones from his coat's left breast pocket with his right hand, flipped it open and pressed reject for several seconds. It was done so fast, and not once his eyes had wavered from the road. He seemed to be so familiar with the phone feature that he didn't have to look at it to do what he did.

The phone screen turned blank and he put the phone on the dashboard. "There, problem solved temporarily."

Kyouko glanced back and forth from Ren to her phone on the car's dashboard. She didn't dare to take it. And then she closed her eyes when Ren sped up. _Help me!_

* * *

When they arrived at Ren's apartment's basement car park, Ren said, "We've arrived, Mogami-san."

_Mogami-san?_ Kyouko was stunned. _Okay, so that was an act to… I don't know._

She was so busy thinking about the sudden change and didn't realise that Ren had opened the door for her. She squeaked when Ren tapped her on her shoulder. "Aie… I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She bowed profusely. "I shouldn't have made you open the door for me. I'm…"

Ren stared down at the bewildered girl and resisted an urge to laugh. "Relax, Mogami-san! I don't eat people for supper. It's not a problem for me. Let's go up!"

Kyouko's face flushed a dark shade of red. Her eyes flickered to her mobile phone on the dashboard. Ren saw her hesitated.

"Take your phone and let's go up, Mogami-san," Ren finally said.

Kyouko's head snapped up at him. "Un."

Ren held out his hand to her. She nibbled her lower lip, took the phone and accepted his hand. They were hand in hand, again. It confused her and… scared her, because she started to feel more than comfortable holding his hand.

In her mind, the rock had started to fall down the cliff with her standing only an inch from the edge. She looked over her shoulder and then back at the thugs. She was afraid that she'd have to surrender anytime soon.

* * *

"Sit down," Ren said when they were in his living room. "I'll make you a cup of tea."

"Eh? You don't have to…" Kyouko immediately pulled on his shirt.

Ren turned back to look at her.

"_Ano_… Tsuruga-san, about S…" she stopped.

Ren sighed. "About Fuwa Shou, isn't it?"

Kyouko nodded. Ren could see her lips formed a grim line. He wasn't happy about the whole Fuwa's ordeal but he figured she had something she wanted to tell him. She seemed to be holding something back. He wondered what it was and had planned to ask anyway.

"Sit down, Mogami-san!" He ushered her to take a seat on the couch. "Wait here, I won't be long!"

Kyouko clutched her bag to her chest hard. A dead mobile phone in her right hand. She remembered reading a message from Kanae but hadn't had time to reply it. She put down her bag and flipped her pink mobile phone open.

"I don't think he has given up by now. After all, he called at 1.30 am the other day, right? But feel free to turn that on. I understand if you want to check your messages."

Kyouko jerked in surprise upon hearing Ren's voice. "Ah um…" Kyouko's eyes looked around to find a clock. It was already a little after midnight, she noticed. She nodded and mumbled "thank you" then quickly turned her mobile phone on.

She saw Ren put down two cups of steaming tea. He offered an assuring smile. _Not that dazzling smile. It's… Tsuruga-san! _She felt a bit relieved. She turned back to her mobile phone and scanned through her messages. She composed a reply mail to Kanae and pressed send.

"Drink! You'll feel better," Ren said and went to sit beside her, tilted his body so he faced her. He started sipping his own tea.

"Thank you." She put her mobile phone beside her.

Silence. There were only sounds of ticking clock and of them sipping the tea.

"I…" they both said.

"You can go first, Mogami-san," Ren offered.

"No. You can go first, Tsuruga-san," Kyouko hastily replied.

"Okay. Mogami-san…" Ren stared at her intently. "I'm sorry."

"Eh? Why? I should be the one who's sorry." Kyouko was stunned.

"No. I failed you. I was supposed to be in character that night, yet I gave you a fright. I'm terribly sorry."

"No. It's my fault as well. If only the phone… I'm sorry." Kyouko bowed deeply. "I set it wrongly. It was because I accepted an incoming mail from Amamiya-san. I didn't notice it and when I did, it was already so late. I thought to set it to maximum vibration so then I'd know if there's incoming mail and can reply immediately. But that phone call…" Kyouko shook her head. "I always set it in silent mode whenever we're playing Heel Siblings. I really don't…" Kyouko tried to catch on her breath. She didn't realise she was panting hard.

"Slow down, Mogami-san." Ren felt a little guilty because she seemed to feel so scared when she explained it.

He got it now that she accidentally set the phone to ring instead of silent for the incoming calls, though it didn't conceal the fact that Fuwa had probably called several times.

"What I don't understand is Fuwa knew how to reach you."

Kyouko blinked. _That's right! He asked about it when he was supposed to be Cain niisan. But will he believe me if I said I have no idea how Shou knew my number?_

She saw Ren stared at her. She bit her lower lip, contemplating on how to explain it. "Um…I don't know how he knew my number. Honest."

Ren blinked. He didn't expect that answer. "What do you mean? So how was he able to call you?"

"I really don't know. Do you think I will tell him?"

"But didn't you ride with him the other day?"

Kyouko grimaced. "It's a long story but that's his fault."

Ren didn't understand but there must be a story behind it. He should have known that everything about Kyouko with Shou had an explanation. He heaved a deep breath. "Go ahead!"

"You know that I went to school the other day, right?" Kyouko asked.

Ren nodded. "That's why I was confused as to how you ended up riding with him in the same car and appearing in the same studio. That's too much a coincidence, don't you think?"

Kyouko winced though she had to agree. Since Ren sounded calm and patient enough, Kyouko figured she could go on. "When I was leaving the school, I saw him standing near the school's front gates. He didn't even bother to disguise himself. I didn't want to deal with him and I sure as hell didn't want people to know that we were childhood friends."

Ren stayed silent, seemingly urging her to continue.

"I turned back and decided to use the rear gates. The rear gates weren't opened at that time so I had to climb over. I really thought it was safe when I landed at the other side of gates but then…I didn't see that cuff coming." Kyouko covered her face, feeling despair all over.

"Cuff?" Ren asked incredulously.

Kyouko nodded. "Handcuffs. Nanokura Mimori cuffed my ankle to the gate and reported it to Shou."

Ren frowned. "Who's she? Why did she do it?"

"Nanokura Mimori, my classmate, she's an idol from Akatoki agency and happened to be in that PV with me as the other angel. She's Shou's underling. I guess you can say that. She's crazily infatuated with Shou. Shou bribed her with a kiss for helping him with that." Kyouko pitied Mimori for that, but she was also disgusted by Shou's using Mimori.

Ren was disgusted as well. "What a way to use a girl who has a crush on him." Then he remembered that it was what exactly happened to Kyouko in the past.

Seeing that understanding downed on Ren's face, she continued, "Anyway, a car stopped beside us, and there were people starting to gather around us. Shou had a long chain connected to the handcuffs and was tugging at it insisting that I climbed into the car with him. I couldn't free myself from the cuff and if I didn't get in the car, there'd be more people coming and that could draw a lot of attention. So I climbed into the car with him. I told him to talk and let me go."

"Then?"

"Turned out he just wanted to remind me of my purpose in entering the showbiz. I admit that getting revenge on him is my goal but it no longer mattered. It's not important but I wouldn't deny it since you'd know if I'm lying to you anyway," Kyouko stopped and looked at his reaction. She toughened herself and continued, "But… for me, the reason of my entering showbiz had changed. Since I found acting, I like myself more and more from day to day. So… I want to find myself through acting and be the best actress."

She didn't want to tell Ren that she kind of made a bet with Shou that if she couldn't be a better actor than Ren, she'd go back to Kyoto and serve as _naka'i _in Fuwa _ryokan_ for the rest of her life. She didn't exactly lie to Ren, she really wanted to find herself through acting, but what triggered her to make the bet was the fact that whenever she was reminded by Shou about her revenge and saw his smug expression, she couldn't help but hated the way Shou had looked down on her and felt the need to prove that she could do better. She wanted to erase the smirk off his face with a complete victory after all. She felt that she didn't need to tell Ren this because it was unrelated. She had said what she had to say.

Ren's face lit up. _That's what she told me before. I really want to believe her but… I can't say I'm happy that she's still having the thought about that revenge, even though it's no longer the highlight of her entering the showbiz._

She was silent for a while. Ren stared at her and prompted her since he felt that she still had something to say, "And..?"

"He didn't believe me, of course." She shrugged. "It turned out that it's all because he saw that Dark Moon Ending Party interview on television. He said this and that about how I shouldn't let a guy buy me clothes because the guy would just want to get in my pants and…" Kyouko's face reddened. "Make love to me."

_Exactly! Fuwa's right! That's what I wanted to tell you,_ Ren added inwardly. _That guy was so direct!_

"I was so enraged because he called me stupid and dumb at the same time. I told him that Kijima-san didn't buy me the clothes but he said that as long as a man's paying, it's the same," Kyouko continued. "Honestly, that line reminded me of you, Tsuruga-san. I almost said sorry to him. Uh, he's incorrigible."

Ren laughed and made Kyouko bewildered.

She pouted. _I told him the truth and he laughed? He actually laughed?_ She coughed. "_Ano_, Tsuruga-san."

Ren stopped laughing when he saw Kyouko's darkened face. "Sorry. It was so hilarious that I couldn't help… uh… sorry, Mogami-san. I didn't mean to laugh at you." _So, Fuwa's jealous, right? And she still has no idea._

Kyouko let out a deep sigh, and continued, "I had a job at TBM at the same time. Since he made me late and he was also heading there, so I kind of tagged along. Well, he was kind of responsible for my being late, so I didn't feel bad for tagging along. You know the rest."

"I see. Why didn't you say so? Why did you have to… uh… cover for the fact that…" Ren shook his head, confused as how to continue that line. "You pushed his head down at that time. If you were me, what'd you think?"

"That you're trying to hide that you're together?" Kyouko spontaneously answered and gasped. "Oh no. That's why you're angry? I really didn't mean to. I didn't know why I did that."

Ren smiled. "Now we got that part cleared. If you explained, I would have listened. I'm not an unreasonable person, Mogami-san. It hurt me that you would think of me as a shallow person."

Kyouko shook her head. "No. Don't misunderstand, Tsuruga-san. It was me, not you."

Ren tilted his head. He didn't understand.

"Um, I think that if you found out I and Shou were together, even though I didn't mean it and it was just a coincidence, you'd get angry anyway. I just don't want you to um…misunderstand me, but either way, what I did was wrong, I guess. Also… you hate Shou, don't you?"

Ren gaped and quickly closed his mouth. "Um… why do you think so?"

"I don't know, I just felt so. You always looked angry whenever you saw him, or when I mentioned his name." Kyouko took her cup and sipped her tea again. _I assumed so_, Kyouko corrected inwardly.

Silence.

"Um but…" Kyouko began. "I never gave him my mobile number."

Ren folded his arms across his chest. "Maybe the girl you mentioned gave it to him?"

Kyouko snorted. "It's not possible, Tsuruga-san. She doesn't have my number. This is a work mobile. I don't give my number to everyone. It's only for work related matter." Kyouko lifted the pink mobile phone.

"I remembered you changed your mobile number once," Ren added.

Kyouko seemed to think. "Yes, but still there's no way I'd let him know my phone number. I requested the change because I've got so many unlisted numbers calling me from that beagle and Shou. It gave me the creeps since I didn't want them to call me. I didn't know how they got a hold of my mobile number."

"We'd have to investigate it, Mogami-san. Maybe you should tell _shachou_ about it."

Kyouko shook her head profusely. "No. Please don't! I don't want to bother _shachou_ with these petty matters. I'm a Nobody."

"Mogami-san. Like it or not, you're part of LME. You're a rising actress. You've got a lot of drama offers after Dark Moon, right?"

"Yes but…"

"_Shachou_ will be concerned whether you're a small time actress or big time actress. You're his employee and he treats every employee the same. Also, Fuwa Shou seemed to know where you live. I'm sure that you didn't tell him that too?"

That got Kyouko's attention. "You're right. How did he know?" She tried to think whether she'd told him about Daruma-ya before when they were still living together_. No. I've never told him. He didn't care anyway. He only cared about himself. He wouldn't have remembered even if I've __said something__ about Daruma-ya._

"It made me think that he… stalked you. He's dangerous."

Kyouko gaped. She laughed. "He might be despicable and he's a no good bum but he's harmless, Tsuruga-san."

Ren snorted. "He practically manhandled you and you said that he's harmless? Think again!"

Kyouko stopped laughing. "But…"

"Which part of him is harmless, Mogami-san? What guy will call at the middle of the night and appeared at such ungodly hour, at the same time manhandling a girl at her front door?" Ren pressed on the matter. "Seem to me, he's dangerous and he certainly lacks common sense."

Kyouko had to agree with that part. "I don't know but he said he's concerned and worried about me. What he exactly said was, 'He didn't… I meant…' I have no idea what he was talking about." Kyouko's brows furrowed.

"But still… at the middle of the night?" Ren mused._ I knew what he meant. That guy must have meant whether I'd harm her in any way. Stupid guy! Like I would hurt the girl I love just because I was so angry at her old flame and told him to get lost?_

"I was surprised as well." Kyouko nodded. "Maybe he meant the 'he' was you, Tsuruga-san. You looked so angry at that time."

Ren cringed inwardly. "Fuwa hates me, that for sure."

Kyouko was baffled. Her astonishment clearly showed on her face.

"Why are you so surprised? Wasn't that true?"

Kyouko bit her lip. She didn't dare to answer that even though it was true.

"You don't have to answer that. Even I could see that in his eyes. To say the truth, he'd actually waited for me that day at TBM, wanted to give me a piece of his mind."

Kyouko's head snapped up.

"Don't worry! I didn't really mind him. I told him to get lost."

"I'm sorry." Kyouko knelt on the couch and did a _dogeza_.

"Hey, it's not your fault, Mogami-san." Ren patted her head softly.

She stared at him and Ren only smiled tenderly at her. Her tears seemed about to fall down. _I'm such an ungrateful girl. __Tsuruga-san's so kind to me, and I__ said that I'd use him and steal all his skills so then I could be the top actress. I'm a disgrace to a human being._ "Don't be so kind to me, Tsuruga-san. I don't deserve your kindness," she forced herself to say.

Ren shook his head and kept stroking her head softly.

Her tears fell down her face. She sobbed painfully due to her own guilt. She wasn't even aware when Ren pulled her into his arms and hugged her tight. She cried against his chest whilst saying 'I'm sorry' countless times inside her head.

Ren stroked her back softly and was surprised when he felt her hug him back. "Cry as much as you like, Mogami-san. You'll feel better."

He could feel her tears wetting his shirt. He didn't care. He just felt he had to comfort her. He felt guilty as well. He should have known better than to give her grief. He was also relieved though he really felt that it was time to free her from Fuwa. He hated that guy. Fuwa didn't only taunt her but also him. He also didn't want to deal with him again. Whenever he appeared, he was worried that his control might snap anytime soon, especially since it concerned Kyouko as well. He was afraid that he'd lose Kyouko, not when he had already made up his mind to pursue his own happiness and to win against Kuon.

He stared down at the weeping girl. _It wouldn't be good to her if Fuwa keeps bugging her with that revenge thing. She's easily riled up after all. It's such a pity if she keeps at that. She's a good actress! She's even better than I, and I need to work hard as well since I don't want to lose to her. I need to get her to agree to confide this to shachou. For my and her peace of mind. _

* * *

Kyouko cried herself to sleep, still in Ren's arm. When Ren realised that, he smiled. He didn't want to wake her and he liked the feel of her petite body on him. He kept stroking her back and tried to sleep though it was a bit uncomfortable. They were on the couch after all. He shifted a little and lied down on the couch, still with Kyouko on top of him.

He felt something on his back and tried to get it. It was Kyouko's phone. He put it on the table beside the couch, adjusted Kyouko on top of him so then she'd be more comfortable, and stroked her head once. He finally dozed off five minutes later.

* * *

Kyouko grabbed the edge of the cliff with her both hands. She had slipped earlier since the thugs had come closer to her and she had no other choice than to step back without realising she was already at the very end of the cliff. She was lucky that she still could grab the edge of the cliff and didn't fall down that instant.

The thugs stared down at her with satisfied smiles on their faces.

"How about it, _jouchan_? Surrender or die!" one of them said.

Kyouko bit her lips so hard it bled. She could feel blood on her lips.

_It's not your fault, Mogami-san._ Ren's smiling face appeared before her. Her eyes widened. "Tsuruga-san."

The real Kyouko was sweating. She kept saying, "No. I don't want to."

* * *

It was almost dawn. Ren felt Kyouko's trembling body and he heard her murmuring. It woke him up. He stroked her back. "Mogami-san, you're safe. Whatever you're dreaming of, it's just a dream," he whispered sleepily whilst kept stroking her back. He could see her calming down. He breathed deeply and went back to sleep.

Just when he thought he could sleep in peace, he heard a faint buzzing voice. His temper snapped. He groaned inwardly. _Who the hell is it? _He didn't want to open his eyes but he was worried that the voice would wake Kyouko up as well.

He grudgingly opened his eyes, struggling to keep himself awake. His eyes fell on the pink thing on the table. _Fuwa again, I guess! For God's sake. It's… _He flipped open the mobile phone. _It's 4.30 am. Holy hell! Does this guy never sleep? _

He answered the phone, "Hello. _**Tsuruga**_ speaking."

* * *

Shou's blood froze. _No shit! How come it's that guy? I thought they were only __trying to trick me__ and he would drive Kyouko's back to where she lived __afterwards__. No way! Calm down! He must __have__ confiscated Kyouko's phone. Yeah, __that__ must be it! _"How come Kyouko's phone is in your hand?"

"…"

"Hey, Tsuruga Ren, do you hear me?"

"I hear you, Fuwa," came Ren's hoarse voice from the other end. "Did you realise what time it is now?"

"Huh? Why would I care about that? I want to talk to Kyouko. We haven't stopped talking and you came barging in. Did you realise that you were so rude? You completely ignored my presence."

He could hear Ren's laugh. "Are you talking about yourself, Fuwa? Did you know that it's rude to call at such ungodly hour? It's 4.30 am, Fuwa Shou. Maybe your sleeping time is reversed but some people actually have a normal life. We sleep at this time."

Shou grinded his teeth, pissed off. "I repeat. It's not you who I want to talk to. I want to talk to Kyouko."

"Kyouko's asleep. She's tired. I don't want to wake her up at this time."

Shou snorted. "Ha! You think I'd believe you? You'd probably confiscated her phone so then you can taunt me with this bullshit."

"Listen! I need my sleep, so does Kyouko. _**We**_ are tired. Cut us some slack, Fuwa Shou-san. And I'm not confiscating her phone. She's here with me, sleeping."

Shou blinked and then he heard Kyouko's sleepy voice.

She was awoken because Ren's voice got a little louder than he meant to. Ren almost felt sorry that he had somehow woken her from her sleep.

"Who are you talking to? What time is it now?" Kyouko asked sleepily.

"Ssh… go back to sleep, Kyouko. It's still early. It's wrong number."

"Hmm… okay." Ren stroked her head softly and lulled her back to sleep. He then turned off the phone, not wanting to let Shou disturb their sleeps furthermore.

* * *

Shou was completely gobsmacked. He was sure that it was Kyouko's voice. No doubt about that. _They're sleeping together? Kyouko, you lied to me! You slept with Tsuruga Ren and you dared __say__ that you weren't interested in him. I was right all along!_

Before he could say anything, he heard the line go off. _Shit! Shit! Shit!_

_Wait up! _he told himself. _They_ _are actors. They could just lie to me. But damn it!_ Fuwa Shoutarou couldn't sleep at all. He was tossing and turning because of the phone call just now. _I'd find out, Tsuruga Ren! I won't forget this!_

* * *

**A/N : How are you liking it? It's 2-0 for Ren! Like I'd let Shou win? No, dear readers! No way in hell I'd ever let Shou win. Haha... Okay, anyway, I've checked and it's supposed to have no missing words, but if there's something weird like the words are missing, please notify me. Thanks for reading, favouring, subscribing and leaving a comment! Please leave a review, if you'd like! **

**Thanks to Shiroyuki76 for the proofreading and for the suggestion parts, missing parts of this chapter. You're the best! :) **

* * *

_**Note on terms :**_

_**Ano : Um, well**_

_**Shachou : the director of the company, Lory Takarada in this case.**_

_**Dogeza : kneeling directly on the ground and bowing to prostrate oneself as touching one's head to the floor**_

_**Jouchan : miss**_

_**Ryokan : inn**_

_**Naka'i : women who serve visitors in restaurants or inns**_


	3. The Third Victory

**Disclaimer : I don't own Skip Beat!**

**Warning : Lime. That's why it's an M fic. Read at your own risk!**

* * *

**The Third Victory**

Kyouko felt warm. Her bed felt comfy and soft and firm. She didn't remember her _futon_ had ever felt so comfortable. _It feels… right!_ She smiled in her sleep. _Maybe okami-san had changed all futons in Daruma-ya._ Or maybe just because she rarely slept in Daruma-ya now since Heel siblings act so she didn't remember the comfort of her own _futon_. Either way, she had to say thank you to _okami_-san later. Even if _okami_-san didn't change the futon, she might have aired it because she could smell the woody scent from it.

_Funny!_ She thought she heard the sound of heartbeats. Thump. Thump. Thump. Soft and rhythmical. It sounded like music to her ear. She didn't remember the last time she had had a good night sleep. Her right hand wandered around, trying to grasp the feel of her futon. _Oh_ _yes, it feels right!_

She giggled. She felt ticklish. She felt tingle down her spine like there was someone tracing down her back. It felt warm but she shivered. _Am I cold?_ She asked herself. Since she was shivering, she was cold, she decided. She grasped around blindly, trying to find a blanket.

_Hmm…_ she mused. There was a hard bulge between her legs. Did she put something there? She tried to think. Maybe her mobile phone, she decided. She sometimes fell asleep and forgot that she was chatting with Kanae. She shifted her body down a little since it was the most she could do. She reached blindly with her hand and tried to take her phone. Maybe it was the sign telling her that she needed to wake up to welcome the new day. Even though it was Sunday, it didn't meant she get to _gorogoro_.

_Okay, it's not funny._ She grumbled, still didn't want to open her eyes. She couldn't take her phone. She tried to pull it but it didn't budge like it was glued to her _futon_. She let out desperate sigh and tried pulling it again. It still didn't budge. Then she heard it. Someone was groaning like he or she was in pain. _Who's in pain? _She opened her eyes.

* * *

Ren was sleeping blissfully. He finally managed to sleep after Fuwa Shoutarou's disturbing call at 4.30 am. He didn't understand what was with the guy. He exhaled deeply. He was still half asleep but he felt warm. He smiled. He liked having Kyouko in his arms. He didn't have bad dream and she was soft and warm and… very woman. He could feel all her curves pressed to his body.

At the thought of her petite body on him, he was aroused. He told himself it was just his usual morning arousal. Every man had it. He wanted to savour the feel whilst he could. Not every day he could have the girl he loved in his arms. Especially when the girl didn't know how he felt towards her. It was like a dream. He was half awake half dreaming. He didn't know and didn't care at the moment.

And then he felt it. He felt her shifted down a little. The friction felt so delicious on his body. He bit back a moan. _No! It's not right!_ He told himself. He opened his eyes, shook his head to get himself sobered up. Then he felt a hand(?) groping his arousal and tried to pull it like it was a thing. He felt the pull twice. He couldn't hold it any longer since it felt so good. It had been very long since… He didn't remember. He groaned.

* * *

Kyouko blinked. She didn't feel right. Her right hand was still clutching that thing she thought as her mobile phone. She lifted her head a little, propping on her chin to have a better view. She then looked around and tried to get up but she couldn't. Someone was pinning her with a dead weight on her waist. Her free left hand was stuck between her body and her _futon_. The _futon_ felt strangely hard and contoured. She stared up and saw bits of Ren's face –his chin, his lips and the top of his nose. She froze.

_What's going on?_ she asked herself. She now realised that she was sleeping on top of him. Her face went beetroot. She couldn't even talk. Unconsciously, she squeezed the thing in her right hand for comfort and Ren groaned again.

She panicked. "Tsuruga-san, are you okay? I'm sorry I slept on you. I'm too heavy, aren't I?" _I'm such a shameless woman. I actually slept on top of Tsuruga-san. No! _She tried to get up but with Ren holding her waist tightly, she couldn't move even one inch.

"Mogami…" Ren bit his lower lip. He couldn't continue since he would probably let out a sexual groan instead so he stopped at that and tried to recollect himself.

"Yes? Are you in pain? What can I do to help you?" Kyouko asked innocently though she was so embarrassed that she wanted to just roll over and get off his body.

"Hand. Your hand is…" He was now fully aware that it was her hand groping him down there.

"My hand?" Kyouko seemed to think and squeezed again. She didn't understand what he meant. "What about it?" _What am I doing? Why do I chit chat with Tsuruga-san and not immediately get off him?_

_Dang! I'm about to come! She needs to let go of my…_ He blushed, partly because he was embarrassed, and partly because of adrenaline rush. "Can you let go of whatever your hand is holding onto?" He asked. He was trying to catch his breath and at the same time still trying to keep a calm façade. He sure didn't want to scare or freak her out.

_Such a strange request. Why would Tsuruga-san ask me to let go of what's mine? _"Okay."

She let go of her 'phone'. She felt her hand a little wet and sort of sticky. That was strange but her embarrassment caused her to think more of her current position on top of him rather than the feel on her right hand.

Ren didn't know what to say or to do. He had come in his pants, and that was because of her accidental and innocent touches – squeezes – on his hardened arousal. He felt somewhat scandalised.

He offered a shy smile and made Kyouko's brows lifted in amusement. "Are you okay, Tsuruga-san? Has the pain subdued?"

"Uh… I guess so." Ren cringed inwardly. He didn't know how to answer that.

"Um… I think I should…" Kyouko began.

They didn't know how but they managed to get up, with Kyouko sitting on Ren's lap and facing him. They both blushed when their eyes met. It was awkward.

"Tsuruga-san, I'm sorry. When did I fall asleep? You should have woken me up." She started to babble incoherently to hide her embarrassment.

"Ah, um… I fell asleep as well so it's fine." He couldn't look her in the eyes.

Silence again.

"Um… do you have school today?" Ren asked suddenly.

Kyouko shook her head. "It's Sunday."

"Oh yeah, right." Ren averted his gaze from Kyouko, still embarrassed, and his eyes fell on her mobile phone on the table. "Ah, by the way. I had to turn that off," he pointed to her mobile phone. "Fuwa Shou called at 4.30 am and demanded to talk to you. You were asleep, heck I was half asleep. That was really uncalled-for."

_Oh!_ Kyouko grimaced. _What did he want? 4.30 am? You never sleep, Shoutarou?_ Kyouko scowled, followed where Ren's finger was pointing, and saw her mobile phone on the table. _Eh? Then what was __the thing__ in my hand __just now__ if my phone is on the table? _

Since she wasn't answering, Ren frowned. "Mogami-san?"

She stared down at her right hand. She could still feel the stickiness though it was dry now and left a strange feeling on her hand. "Um…I should…get off you." She shifted in his lap and got off his lap and the couch. She prostrated herself on the ground. "I'm so sorry. I hope I didn't hurt you somehow."

Ren blinked. "Mogami-san, it's not your fault. It's…" He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine. Really."

"But I shamelessly…"

Ren lifted his right hand. "Stop right there! Let's not think about this! We have a more important matter to think about. We already said what we needed to say. Okay?"

Kyouko nodded.

"Okay, now, since it's uh…" Ren looked around, trying to find the clock. "Already 7 am. It's best if we take a shower…" He noticed Kyouko's horrified expression. "Separately of course," he quickly added. "And then we can talk about what we should do to resolve Fuwa Shou's stalking behaviour over breakfast."

"Eh but…" Kyouko tried to protest.

"Later, okay?" Ren stood up, turned his back at Kyouko and started to walk towards his bedroom. He stopped when he realised he had forgotten something and said, "You know where the other bathroom is and feel free to use the towel and toiletries in there. Enjoy!" He started to walk again and strode faster, wanting to leave so desperately. Not long after, there was a loud thud heard from his bedroom direction.

Kyouko was left alone in the living room, bewildered and felt disoriented.

* * *

Ren had himself a long overdue shower. He went straight into the bathroom right after he left Kyouko in the living room. He even stood under the shower for the first several minutes with his clothes on till he remembered to properly strip off his clothes. He was shaken by needs, longing and guilt. He needed one moment for himself after that scandalous moment.

He groaned in misery when he was reminded about what had just happened. Kyouko had actually got him off without realising it. He wondered if he should have felt violated instead. He needed a cold shower. He didn't care how cold it would feel since he had started to feel aroused again. He needed to stop thinking about that.

He turned the knob to cold water. _It's darn cold!_ He resisted an urge to shout out. He knew he had to shower faster. He still had to go downstairs and buy their breakfasts. It'd also give him more time to calm down before he faced Kyouko again.

* * *

Still feeling slightly disoriented after Ren left her alone in the living room, Kyouko stood on her feet. She had spare clothes in her rather big bag. She always thought that she had to be prepared, either it was for school or for emergency job.

Her gaze fell on her mobile phone on the table. She took it and shoved it into her bag. She then strode towards the guest bedroom. She knew that the other bathroom was just right beside it.

She went in, put her bag on the counter and when her eyes fell on the bath tub, she decided to take a bath instead a quick shower. She walked over and turned the knob on for hot water. Whilst waiting, she sat on the edge of the tub and mulled over what had just happened in the living room.

She blushed. She still couldn't get over the fact that she had slept on top of Ren and had probably hurt him somehow. It was like that night all over again. But this time she wasn't playing Setsu. She wondered how many embarrassing moment she had experienced since that time. She heaved a deep sigh. _And now… Uh! Stop thinking about that, Kyouko! Didn't he say that it's fine with him? _

She stood up and walked over to the counter. She pulled out her spare clothes and put it on then counter and shoved back her school uniform into the bag. _I really should get myself together. _She stared at the mirror and tried to smile. "Go take your bath, Mogami Kyouko!" She pointed to her reflection in the mirror. "And forget about all those embarrassing things or you'd embarrassed yourself and drag Tsuruga-san with you!" She vehemently nodded. "You can do it! Fight, Mogami Kyouko! Fight!"

* * *

When she had finished with her bath and walked back into living room again, she found that the room was eerily silent. "Um? Tsuruga-san?" She called out tentatively.

No answer.

"Tsuruga-san?"

She tilted her head for there was still no answer. She walked towards the couch and sat on it. She blushed again. _Uh! I'm no good!_

Before she could calm herself, she heard the front door clicked and she saw Ren walking in with a plastic bag in his left hand. "Tsuruga-san!" She sounded a little too excited.

"Ah, sorry. Have you waited long? I was downstairs." Ren lifted the plastic bag in his hand. "Breakfast!"

He put the plastic bag down on the living room's table. Kyouko eyed him curiously. She saw no hint of awkwardness in his movements and started to relax as well. "I'll help!"

Ren smiled. "Okay."

* * *

"So, about Fuwa's stalking behaviour, what we should do is…" Ren began whilst sipping his coffee. "We have to tell _shachou_ about this. The sooner the better."

Kyouko looked hesitant. "Um… but…"

"If he stalks you, he'd know where you go and who knows what'd he do to you?" Ren lifted a finger. "I saw him manhandled you. So, don't try to defend him and say that he's harmless."

_He did it twice. But I still think he's harmless. He wouldn't hurt me._ Kyouko cringed when she saw Ren's stern expression. "Okay then." She gave up. She had to agree that what Ren had said made sense. _But that's not what I'm worried about. It wouldn't be good if he __finds out later__ that I'm Setsu. It's supposed to be a secret. That is if he really stalks me. Better safe than sorry. I don't want to cause trouble for Tsuruga-san._

"Mogami-san, maybe for today you need to stay in other place than Daruma-ya. He knows you live there so he might appear again." Ren took a bite of his butter covered toast and chewed on it. "You can stay here."

Kyouko's face turned blank. She blinked several times. "I can't impose on you any longer, Tsuruga-san. It's just not right!"

"Then where would you stay?" Ren stared at her with concern.

"Ah, um… maybe I can stay at Mou… I mean at Kotonami-san's place?" Kyouko sounded incredulous. "I'd have to call her first."

"Will it be safe?" He rather doubted it.

"Shou doesn't know about her. It should be safe."

Ren looked relieved. "Okay. About the phone call, there's nothing we can do. You just have to do your best to ignore it for now. Keep it in silent mode if possible. Perhaps _shachou_ will have an idea on what to do with it."

Kyouko nodded. She gave him a small smile.

"Are you okay with this?"

Kyouko looked surprised. "Um, yes. I really don't want to deal with him again. Sometimes I thought he had vanished and then he suddenly appeared again. I really have no idea what's with him." She sighed. "Whenever he appeared, he only wanted to remind me about the revenge and ticked me off. And I actually took the bait. I'm pathetic, aren't I?" She smiled sadly.

Fuwa Shou's face flashed in Ren's mind. He remembered how Fuwa had tried to rile him up. He was angry but now he saw how pathetic the guy was. "No, you aren't but if you let him get to you then it's your lost, Mogami-san. Seems to me, he's a manipulative jerk. Pardon my language."

Kyouko shook her head. "It's the right word to describe him." _After all, didn't he manipulate me, Nanokura Mimori and the people around him? The word 'jerk' suits him just right._

Ren chuckled. "I'm glad you agreed," he continued, "You should stay focus on what you want to achieve. Anger is actually a good way to motivate yourself but it wouldn't do you any good. You should let it go. And… just ignore him! I know it's probably hard but I'm sure you can do it, Mogami-san." _I know how hard it is but it's __manageable__. Just like a pricking pain in the arse. I experienced it first hand after all. Ah, saying this to her __kind of reminded__ me of what I __wanted__ to do by coming to Japan. Moreover, Fuwa underestimated me and my feelings towards Kyouko. He probably thought I'd give up __after what he said that night.__ Fat chance! She might not want to fall in love for now, but there's no guarantee she wouldn't __later__. One can always try, Fuwa. You're definitely in for a challenge! I will make her see me as a man first. One thing I'm __sure about is that__ she'll never fall for you again, Fuwa._

Kyouko tried to digest Ren's words. She had to agree that Ren's words not only made sense but also showed how mature he was. She felt ashamed. She stole a glance at him and stared down at her half eaten toast. "Yes."

Ren lifted his brows, bewildered. "Pardon?"

Kyouko only smiled and felt somewhat relieved. _Tsuruga-san always knows what I need to hear._ "Thank you, Tsuruga-san."

"Uh… you're welcome," he replied though he couldn't comprehend with how she responded.

* * *

Daruma-ya's _Taishou_ and _Okami_ stared at Ren with questioning looks. They knew Ren. They had met him once at that Grateful party.

"Tsuruga-san, isn't it?" _Okami_ asked.

"Yes, _okami_-san."

"Is Kyouko-chan going to stay with you? I know that she's having some job assignment and needs to stay in other place but…" _Okami_ hesitated.

"Ah. No. She's not staying with me. I'm going to drive her to Kotonami-san's place," Ren answered. "Um, it's not my place to tell you the reason why she's going to stay in another place the company has assigned for a while. My apologies."

"Maybe it's a good thing," _Taishou_ said.

_Okami_ nudged _Taishou_ in his side and shot him a warning look. _Taishou_ clamped his mouth shut.

Ren saw that gesture and frowned.

Just at the same time, they heard Kyouko's footsteps going downstairs. She appeared before the three of them.

"I'm sorry I made you wait for me, Tsuruga-san," Kyouko said. She didn't notice the tension in the room.

"_Okami_-san, _Taishou_-san, please excuse me." Ren smiled and then pulled Kyouko on her right elbow softly.

Kyouko frowned.

Ren made a gesture and both of them gave the older couple tentative smiles. They then walked a bit farther to the corner of Daruma-ya.

"Mogami-san, I think you should tell them about why you're not going to live in Daruma-ya for a while," Ren's voice almost sounded like a whisper.

"You meant telling them about Shou?"

"You don't have to tell them his name, just tell them the crucial point, that you were stalked. They seemed to worry about you and it's not my place to tell them."

Kyouko seemed to contemplate on Ren's suggestion. She finally nodded. "Um okay."

They walked back to where the older couple stood.

"Ano, _Taishou_-san, _Okami_-san. I'm going to live at Mou… I mean Kotonami-san's place for today."

The older couple nodded.

"Um, and when not at work, I'd stay somewhere for a while," she hesitated and continued, "Err… it's because there are some circumstances occurred. There's a stalk…" She still felt the word 'stalker' was too much.

"There was a stalker," _Okami_ said. "We didn't want to tell you at first but now that you mention it…"

"Eh?" Both Ren and Kyouko were dumbfounded.

"This guy with _kinpatsu_ kept coming to the restaurant these last few days. The first time he came, it was 2.30 am. He actually woke us up and asked about you. He asked whether you were already asleep and if he could talk with you." _Okami_ looked disturbed. "_Taishou_ chased him out and told him that he got the wrong address."

Kyouko and Ren's mouths dropped open. _2.30 am? He's crazy! He definitely has no common sense._

"Then he kept coming to the restaurant. Since he was a guest, and he actually ordered something, we couldn't just throw him out." _Okami_ sighed. "But he asked for you whenever he came. Thankfully, you weren't in so we kind of relieved. He didn't seem to believe me. I considered telling you when you come home. Now that we made that clear, it's a good thing that you'd stay at the other place temporarily. I wish it can be resolved soon."

"_Okami_-san, _Taishou_-san. I'm sorry that I gave you trouble." Kyouko knelt and did several _dogezas_.

"No, Kyouko-chan."

After assuring the older couple about Kyouko's safety, Kyouko and Ren departed for Kanae's house. The older couple had specifically told Ren to take care of Kyouko which Ren answered solemnly that he would.

* * *

"Uh, Ren, are you sure you're appearing in Kyouko-chan's school with that getup? You look like a _chinpira,_" Yashiro pointed at Ren's clothes. He was dressed in leather slacks with chains attached to his belt, black shirt with skeleton's print on it, a tattered leather jacket, black boots and black gloves. Almost like Cain. The difference was he combed his hair so that it looked like some thugs. He wore several lip and brow rings.

"It's the safe bet," Ren said with a hint of smile.

"Well, if you're sure." Yashiro snickered. "You seem so happy you can pick her up at school, eh?"

Ren mentally rolled his eyes and gave Yashiro a dirty look.

Ren and Kyouko agreed on him picking her up because he was worried that Fuwa Shou would pull the same stunt like before. Kyouko had actually mailed him and told him that Nanokura Mimori wasn't in for the day and she could go to LME for their meeting with Lory by herself. Ren didn't want to take the risk and insisted on picking her up.

Ren got out of the car, with Yashiro still snickering in the back seat. He walked towards the school's front gates and stood patiently waiting for Kyouko.

* * *

Kyouko walked fast towards the school's front gates. She didn't want to make Ren wait for her too long. When she was close to the front gates, she saw Ren. Yes, she was sure that the thug like guy standing near the front gates was Ren. She could recognise him in whatever disguise he was on. She smiled and didn't realise that the students around her were frantically scared because of the thug. They pointed at him and whispered.

Kyouko walked faster and stopped before him. "Tsuruga-san, right?" she said in a low voice.

The thug nodded and offered his hand.

_It's starting to become a habit. _Kyouko bit her lower lip and took his offered hand. She immediately felt the warm comfort from his hand. She didn't even hear the students' horrified voices when they saw her taking the thug's hand.

In her mind, she was grabbing the edge of the cliff with only her right hand. The thugs shouted at her, "_Jouchan_, you're such a stubborn girl. Why don't you just surrender?"

Kyouko closed her eyes and shook her head, trying to shake the image off her head.

* * *

Fuwa Shoutarou still had another way to find where Kyouko was. Okay, he couldn't make her pick up the phone. He didn't know how she could recognise his number. He was still sure that Tsuruga Ren had tried to trick him. Though he didn't believe what Tsuruga Ren had said over the phone, he was still disturbed. He still thought that Tsuruga Ren had confiscated Kyouko's phone, recorded her voice with those lines so then he could taunt him with that cheap trick.

_Ha! He thought that I'm an idiot? There's sky above the sky, Tsuruga Ren._

With Mimori out of picture, he didn't know whether Kyouko went to school or not but Mimori said that since Kyouko spent a lot of time at school, she should be in LME if she's not at school. So… He strode confidently towards LME's front lobby's reception desk. There was only one receptionist present at the time.

"Can I help you, Sir?" the receptionist asked and then squealed when she recognised him. "Eh, aren't you Fuwa Shou? Kyaa…"

"Hello, pretty lady. I'd like to meet Mogami Kyouko."

"Sure. Sure. Can you sign for me, Fuwa-san?"

"Anything for a fan." Shou winked and took the signature board offered by the receptionist. He signed it and gave it back to the swooning woman.

"Kyaa… thank you." The young receptionist bowed. "Mogami Kyouko, correct?"

Shou nodded.

"Which section?"

"Section?" Shou wasn't sure. "Oh, um, she's an actress."

"Acting section then?" The receptionist frowned when she didn't find Kyouko's name in the database. "Are you sure, Fuwa-san? There's no actress with that name here."

"What? Not possible!"

"Yes even if she's an actress here, which I'm sure she isn't because her name isn't in our database, you can't just request to meet her directly like this. She might not be in and you have to make an appointment with her manager first. I take that this is for work proposition?"

Shou didn't hear the receptionist's explanation further. He was side tracked by two girls clad in horrid pink overalls walking pass by his side. He recognised that suit. He saw Kyouko wore that before when she was shooting for his PV.

Also, what made him sure that Kyouko belonged to the same section with the duo was because he could clearly hear the shorter one said, "Kyouko _senpai_ said she'd be coming today." Whilst the taller one only nodded.

"That one!" Shou pointed to the two girls waiting for lift.

The receptionist tilted her head. "Ah, Love Me section? Please wait a minute!" She keyed in Kyouko's name for Love Me section. "Oh yes, we have a Mogami in this section." One moment the receptionist was smiling, the next moment she actually shivered when Kyouko's photo came up. "Ah, you should have said that you're looking for Mio-sama." The receptionist looked terribly scared. "But I'm afraid Mio-sama isn't in today. You might want to talk to Sawara-san if you want to make an appointment with her."

"Okay whatever. Get me this Sawara-san," Shou said. "Please," he added with a wink. _Ha! Gotcha! She'd be in. I'd just ask this guy to let me in._

The receptionist swooned at that wink. "I understand. Please wait a moment."

* * *

Sawara felt headache was coming. Someone who claimed as Fuwa Shou requested to meet with him in regard of job proposition for Kyouko. _It can't be the real Fuwa Shou. After all, job proposition usually comes from the related celebrity's management's formally._

He sighed and walked towards the front lobby with slow strides. He then saw a bleach blond guy near the reception desk. _Is that Fuwa Shou?_ He asked himself incredulously.

"Fuwa Shou-san? I'm Sawara Takenori," Sawara introduced himself. He still doubted Shou's identity and stared at him intently.

"Sawara-san. Good afternoon."

_Crap! He's the real Fuwa Shou. No doubt about it! What does he want from LME? _Sawara grimaced.

"I'm looking for Kyouko. This pretty lady here said that I have to ask you to make an appointment with Kyouko from your section." Shou tapped Sawara on his shoulder, trying to act friendly. "Can you just let me see Kyouko?"

"Kyouko as in Mogami Kyouko?" Sawara asked. He was trying to play dumb. _Of course it's Mogami Kyouko. There's only one Kyouko in Love Me. Argh…_ "We have a lot of Kyouko here."

"Yes. Mogami Kyouko."

"My apologies, Fuwa-san. If it's about job proposition, please have your official send the request to us," Sawara tried to explain.

"Oh come on! She's my childhood friend, so I don't need to propose a job just to meet her."

Sawara coughed. "Ahem. I can't let you meet with Mogami-san. Besides, are you the real Fuwa Shou? This is a cruel world. Perhaps you're one of her fans? She gets quite popular as Mio and even though she played antagonist, the Dark Moon Ending Party interview where she appeared so beautiful had invited some stalkers." _Well, I have to go with this. If I let them meet, who knows what'd happen to LME's reputation? Mogami-san is easily riled __up__ especially when it concerns this guy._

"Are you doubting me?" Shou glared at Sawara. "And calling me a stalker?"

Sawara narrowed his eyes. "Are you intimidating me, _nise_ Fuwa? If you aren't a stalker, then what are you? If you're the real Fuwa Shou and have a job proposition for Kyouko, please have your office send a formal proposal. I'll look into it."

Shou's jaw clenched tight. _He called me nise Fuwa?_ "Ha! What? When Akatoki has many beautiful actresses, why would I propose a job for Kyouko?"

Sawara twitched. "Are you insulting LME now?"

"Yeah yeah. After all, Kyouko isn't beautiful at all. I only came to meet with my childhood friend, that's all. I don't have job for her. But if she wants, she can come begging to Akatoki." Shou laughed.

"Sawara-san…" someone tapped on his shoulder. Sawara felt a salvation was coming to him. He was irritated upon hearing Shou's insult towards Kyouko and LME.

"Ah, Tsuruga-san, Mogami-san." He winced when he saw Kyouko was right behind Ren.

"What's wrong?" Ren asked.

"Ha! Tsuruga Ren! And Kyouko! You two came at the right time. This old man here lied and said that…"

"I wasn't lying. Moreover, it's LME's procedure," Sawara explained briefly to Ren what had happened.

Kyouko listened to it whilst eyeing Shou. She felt headache was coming her way. _Shou, since when did you turn into a stalker?_ But what made her angry was when Sawara reciting all stories in a flash that she realised that her so called childhood friend had insulted her all over along with LME.

"Yes, indeed. That's how it works here," Ren said and turned to Shou. "Fuwa-san, are you even the real Fuwa Shou?" Ren tilted his head innocently whilst assessing Shou.

Shou glared at him.

"Well, since he claimed that you two are childhood friend, you can make a testament, Mogami-san. Is this person a friend of yours?" Sawara asked.

Kyouko eyed Shou and sighed. "No. I don't think I know this guy."

Sawara sang hallelujah inside his head. He was so grateful that Kyouko didn't try to pick a fight with Fuwa this time. "Well, since Mogami-san didn't recognise you, you're a _nisemono_, Mr Whatever-Your-Name-Is."

"This is bullshit." Shou stepped forward and tried to grab Kyouko.

"Uh, I don't want to resort to violence," Sawara said and swatted Shou's hand at the right time before he was able to touch Kyouko. "Tsuruga-san, can you please help me?"

"Sure. Kyouko, you want to help throw this stalker out? He might be a danger to you since he loved you so much that he stalked you." Ren smiled mischievously.

_Tsuruga-san, what's with that love part? He didn't love me. He __only loves himself and wants__ to cause me grief but whatever..._ "Sure, happy to oblige."

The three of them, with Ren taking Shou's left arm whilst Sawara took the right arm, and Kyouko using her both hands started pushing and dragging him out of LME. Then they closed the front lobby's glass door and waved at him with smiles.

"Hey… you three can't just do this to me." He stood up and before he could reach the glass door, two beefy securities who Sawara had called took his arms and dragged him farther from LME and threw him on the roadside.

It didn't help matter when the people around stared at him with disgust.

"Stalker, they said? That's the worst."

"Yeah, though he looks like Fuwa Shou, uh but… ew…"

"Poor Kyouko-chan, being stalked by this society's rubbish."

Shou stood up and stomped his right foot on the ground. He growled. "Shut up!" _Damn you, Kyouko, Tsuruga Ren, Sawara Takenori and LME! This is a war!_

* * *

**A/N : I wanted to get this chapter out before March 1st. Rumour has it that the raw will be released by March 1st after all so before I lose all the excitement to write this, I and my beta reader worked fast to get this out by today. Also, because I want to read Calculated in Death in peace. Fufu. **

**Thanks for reading, favouring, subscribing and leaving a review. I hope you like this chapter as well. Please leave a review, if you'd like to tell me what you think! **

**Thanks to Shiroyuki76 for proofreading this chapter. **

* * *

**Note on terms :**

_**Futon : bed**_

_**Gorogoro : idle around at home/bed**_

_**Nise/Nisemono : fake**_

_**Okami : proprietress at traditional inn/restaurant**_

_**Taishou : proprietor at traditional inn/restaurant**_

_**Chinpira : thug**_

_**Kinpatsu : golden hair**_

_**Dogeza: Kneeling down with both legs and bowing down with the body flat on the floor**_


	4. The Fourth Victory

**Disclaimer : I don't own Skip Beat!**

**Warning : Spoiler of ch 198 if you haven't read it. It's long not because of the story, but because of my note on terms.**

* * *

**The Fourth Victory**

Yashiro tried to hold his laughter. He was astonished upon seeing the tandem works of Sawara, Ren and Kyouko. He thought it was going to be another disaster since he remembered how angry Ren had looked when Fuwa Shou confronted him in that car park. Instead, he found it funny seeing the three of them threw Fuwa Shou out of LME.

He was so happy for them. He heard Ren call Kyouko by her given name and without honorific. He wondered whether he had missed some vibration between the two that he didn't know of. But after thinking about it, his mouth formed a grim line. _Ren only did that to spite Fuwa, _he told himself. He sighed inwardly. He remembered that both Ren and Kyouko called each other with surname and with honorific when they were in the car so it couldn't just change so suddenly.

Kyouko seemed to realise it as well. _Did Tsuruga-san call me by my first name again just now? Why?_ She mused.

"Hmm so you and Mogami-san have a meeting with shachou?" Sawara nodded when Ren answered why he and Kyouko were together.

"Yes. We've got several matters to sort out with _shachou_." Ren smiled.

Sawara sighed. "I hope it's nothing serious then. You sounded… well, I don't know. Agitated?"

Ren and Kyouko cringed inwardly. They could only smile back at Sawara whilst the guy excused himself and left for Talent Section. Yashiro who stood behind them frowned. He wondered what the meeting was about since Ren and Kyouko looked awfully unsettled.

* * *

When the three of them arrived at Lory's room, their eyes widened. Lory was in Kyoto samurai spring mode. There were fake Sakura trees around, fake wind and fake rivers. He was actually wearing _shinsengumi_ costume –grey _kimono_, skyblue and white _haori_, black _hakama_ and the ribbon tied _hachigane_ with '_Makoto_' written on it, also a real _katana_ in his hand. If he only wore the _kimono_ and _hakama_, they wouldn't know but the _haori _and the _hachigane_ gave away his cosplay theme. He welcomed them with enthusiasm and they all hurriedly stepped back.

"_Shachou_, your _katana_!" Ren pointed at the Japanese sword in his hand. "It's the real thing right? You want to kill us that badly?"

Lory was stunned. "_Oya oya_, my bad." Lory stepped back and sheathed the sword back. His face turned serious. "Okay, please sit down you three."

The three of them cringed when they saw Lory pointing at the wooden table and _tatami_ covered floor in the middle of the room. Whilst the men tried to find a comfortable sitting position, Kyouko sat in perfect _seiza_ position with her both hands folded neatly on her lap.

Lory cocked his head and stared curiously at her. "Great posture, Mogami-kun. I guess it's the result of _ryokan_'s training?" It was written in her resume that she had worked in a ryokan, and a traditional restaurant. One could conclude from that alone.

Kyouko's head snapped up in surprise. "Eh? I guess you can say so, _shachou_."

"Oh, so you worked in a _ryokan_ before, Kyouko-chan?" Yashiro asked. He sounded interested.

Kyouko grudgingly nodded.

"No wonder you bowed so beautifully and I guess that the tea ceremony was also part of the training?" Yashiro looked amused.

Kyouko's face darkened. She didn't want to remember that she learned all that because of Fuwa Shou.

Ren cleared his throat. "Maybe, we should sit down?"

"Yeah. Sit down you three!" Lory sat leisurely. He waved to them. "No need to sit in a _seiza_. I don't mind."

Kyouko felt relieved for one moment, but next moment, she sighed again inwardly. She knew that their talks were going to be long. She tried to pull herself together.

* * *

"So…" Lory began. "I'd like to hear from the start. You and Ren told me over the phone that Fuwa Shou bugged you by calling you at ungodly hour and that he stalked you, Mogami-kun."

Yashiro blinked. "What? Fuwa Shou stalked Kyouko-chan? Is it really? What the…" He stopped. "So, it's not a plain accusation then?" He thought that Ren only played along with Sawara to kick Shou out from LME.

Lory cocked his head. "What do you mean with that, Yashiro-kun?"

"Uh… just now, Fuwa Shou appeared in the front lobby. From what Sawara-san told us, he demanded to meet with Kyouko-chan..." Yashiro recited Sawara's story.

Lory listened to it with full attention. He frowned and narrowed his eyes when he heard the part where Fuwa Shou insulted Kyouko along with LME. "Okay, now that's bad. I don't like what I have just heard. It could cause ruckus and media riot if they ever caught this matter since it concerned LME and Akatoki. He made such a careless statement."

"No worries, _Shachou_. Ren, Sawara-san and Kyouko-chan threw him out of LME after dismissing him as _nise_ Fuwa," Yashiro said with a hint of smile. He wanted to laugh again whenever he remembered about that. "It should be okay."

Lory roared in laughter. "I want to see that. I hope our security camera caught that."

The three of them cringed.

Lory stopped laughing and his face turned serious again. "So, Mogami-kun, tell me how it started, since when, and how often he bugged you with the call."

"Um…" Kyouko hesitated.

"Mogami-kun, I care about my employee's safety. Now that he actually had come to this building to find you. This is serious. He even brought Akatoki's name with him," Lory said gravely. "I'd have to do something to prevent LME and Akatoki war as well but you don't have to worry about it. So, now, please tell me the whole story."

"Um, I don't know how he got a hold of my mobile number. I even changed it once," Kyouko finally said. "I also don't know how he found out where I lived. There were several unlisted numbers that called my mobile phone. At first I didn't know who it was. I thought it was the Beagle since he was kind of a psychic?" She sounded unsure.

"Who's beagle?" Lory asked whilst the other two men were still silent.

"It's Vie Ghoul actually but Beagle suits them just well," Kyouko said in a small voice.

"So, what's the connection between the Beagle and Fuwa Shou?" Lory twirled his moustache whilst trying to hide his laugh on how Vie Ghoul could change into Beagle. _Mogami-kun has a funny way with words._ "I don't get it at all."

Ren and Yashiro stared at each other. They knew the answers but since it wasn't their place to say anything in regard to that Karuizawa incident. It was Kyouko's right to tell if she wanted to share.

"Well, let's just leave the Beagle out of it since he didn't bug me anymore." Kyouko smiled.

Lory nodded, didn't want to pursue the matter now but he would ask either Yashiro or Ren since he saw them staring at each other. Those two clearly knew something, Lory decided. "And then?"

"Then I knew it was Fuwa Shou when one night I listened to my voicemail and there was a message from him, um… I think I don't need to tell you what the message was about."

Lory gave her a go-ahead nod.

"Um, anyway, I requested a mobile number change once, but he still could reach me. I really don't know how he was able to do that. He even called at 4.30 am once. Tsuruga-san picked up that call actually."

Lory's head turned to Ren. "You picked up Mogami-kun's mobile phone call? I guess it's when you were playing the Heel siblings?"

Ren cringed inwardly. "I had to since it bugged me and Mogami-san was dead asleep." He ignored Lory's last question.

Kyouko blushed.

Lory noticed that. He lifted his brows. _Oh ho… what is it? Ren avoided my last question. What is it that I don't know about? _"I see. Next, since when did he start to stalk you? Do not leave out any details! Stalking is a serious crime."

Kyouko glanced at Ren and saw Ren nodded and mouthed, "From school."

Lory was amused at Kyouko and Ren's interaction. _They thought I didn't see what they did?_ He twirled his moustache, waiting for Kyouko to start reciting her story.

Not only Lory, Yashiro was amused as well. He grinned wickedly.

"That Saturday night, when we've just finished with the Heel Siblings' act, I found him at Daruma-ya's front door," Kyouko slowly said.

"Eh? I remember it's quite late," Lory said. "Ren, you did give Mogami-kun a ride right? So, you were there from the start?"

Ren and Kyouko stared at each other.

"Ahem. You two are hiding something from me." Lory shot them a stern look.

Both Ren and Kyouko flinched away in surprise.

Ren took a deep breath. "Ah, I… did drive Mogami-san home but I didn't walk her to her front door."

"I thought I taught you how to be a gentleman. You left a girl to walk by herself to her front door at quite a late night?" Lory and Yashiro almost simultaneously said.

Ren twitched and Kyouko was stunned.

"Can you please let me finish first?" Ren glared at them whilst the older men snickered. He sighed and continued, "So I drove away, and then her mobile phone rang. Mogami-san had dropped it in my car. I pulled over and checked for it. Then I drove back to deliver it." He took another deep breath whilst staring at Kyouko. "That was when I saw it. Fuwa Shou manhandled Mogami-san. I told him to stop and I dragged Mogami-san away with me." There was an open anger in his eyes. "It wasn't the first time. You have to tell them the rest, Mogami-san. Starting from the time he abducted you at school."

Kyouko flinched. Lory and Yashiro frowned. The word 'abduct' lingered in their mind. They thought it was too heavy.

* * *

Kyouko stuttered out the story. She was uncomfortable but she knew she had to say it. Ren patted her back softly once for comfort. She calmed down and could continue the story but at the same time her heart tumult began. She was on the verge of tears. She didn't tell it to Lory and Yashiro's face. Instead, she told it all over again to Ren's face because she had hurt him without him knowing it and it saddened her.

Lory and Yashiro could read the situation. Yashiro knew about the car park incident whilst Lory finally understood Ren's strange mood that Jelly had described to him.

_He's seriously angry with Fuwa._ The older men concluded.

Ren sensed that Kyouko was on the verge of tearing up again. He openly patted her head and pulled her into his arms. She hugged him back. She was sad, really sad and confused.

In her mind, she was just saved from falling off the cliff… by Ren. Ren had held out his hand and pulled her up. She knew from that moment she stared at his face that she had no other choice than to succumb to the feeling called love.

She admitted that she had fallen for him, to hell with Shoutarou's accusation. How could she not? Ren was different to her. But now she was confused. She had promised herself to never do stupid things like falling in love again, but… she had lost to it.

She felt that she had to hide it. She couldn't let him know but she had to tell him about the other thing she'd said that didn't sit well in her stomach. Later. When it was only the two of them. Somewhere.

* * *

Ren stared at Lory and Yashiro whilst Kyouko was still buried in his arms. He didn't care what they thought about his current predicament. He cocked his head to left nonchalantly. His eyes looked sad.

Yashiro squealed inwardly but knew that he couldn't express his happiness. It was a serious situation after all.

Lory was stunned. He knew there was something between them though he couldn't grasp what it was. He had to let it go for now since Fuwa related matter was more serious.

"Mogami-kun," Lory began.

Kyouko jerked in Ren's arm but Ren stroked her back softly and let her go. She straightened herself, felt embarrassed. She stared down at her hands.

"I will have to confirm with Sawara-kun about that mobile phone of yours later. I'd like you to leave your mobile phone here. We'll investigate it." Lory continued then laughed when he saw Kyouko's funny expression. "We have a way to find out. Don't worry!"

Kyouko stared at Ren again and Ren nodded.

"Since you're playing Heel Siblings from tonight on till…5 days forward, I know where to reach you." Lory said. "It includes the investigation on your address as well. LME has your data, that for sure. Your school must have it as well. Um… well, just leave it to me."

Kyouko nodded and did a _dogeza_. "Shachou, thank you for taking care of me."

"You don't have to thank me, Mogami-kun." Lory smiled. "Oh, now off you go. I know Sawara-kun has some tasks for you in Love Me."

"I understand." Kyouko smiled and stood up. She stole a glance at Ren and then bowed deeply. "I have to excuse myself." She bowed to Yashiro and Ren as well then left the room.

* * *

When it was only the three of them left, Lory opened his mouth and asked, "Nah, what is that about the Beagle? I take it you two know something about it."

Ren nodded whilst Yashiro cringed. Yashiro didn't actually know the details about Karuizawa incident but the Valentine incident kind of gave him some insight about what had happened between Fuwa Shou, Vie Ghoul's Reino and Kyouko.

"I sensed that it's related to this as well. Care to explain?"

"That happened when we were still filming Dark Moon in Karuizawa. Mogami-san was acting weird when we were on the phone one night. She sounded scared but then she said that it was the bad signal. I was checking on her. I was in Okinawa at that time." Ren admitted. "Then I told Yashiro-san to go ahead of me to Karuizawa to make sure she was okay." He glanced at Yashiro.

Yashiro made a coughing sound. "Erm… Kyouko-chan went missing and later was found unconscious in the woods. That's what they told me that time. I swear." Yashiro sweated like he was the one at fault.

Ren only stared at him.

"Fuwa-san came to Ren's room. Ah, I and Kyouko-chan were there. He came to find her with Momose-san then he said something about saving Kyouko-chan from the devil. Well, that's what I knew. Really," Yashiro finished it with a squirm. He still felt guilty that he had hidden the fact about Fuwa's appearance in Karuizawa from Ren that time.

"And?" Lory prompted.

"Later Mogami-san confessed that she was stalked by that beagle. Beagle's vocalist Reino thought of Fuwa Shou as his biggest rival and wanted to spite him. So he stalked her. Mogami-san was just caught in between the two idiots' rivalry. That's what she told me." Ren scowled.

Lory harrumphed loudly. He shot them both a sharp glare. "Why didn't anyone tell me about that Karuizawa incident? Who else knew about that?"

"Okay, director Ogata knew but concealed the fact since it would probably affect Dark Moon and you know Mogami-san, she didn't want to cause trouble for the production," Ren said. "There was no harm done since it was resolved." He sounded unsure since he wasn't satisfied with how it was solved as well.

Lory scowled. "That didn't mean that I didn't have to know, don't you think? After all, Mogami-kun is my employee. So, she had been stalked by Fuwa's rival and now by the guy himself." Lory's left thumb unconsciously touched his _katana_'s _tsuba_, seemingly wanted the sword to be jerked out from its sheath.

* * *

"So, that's why you were so weird these past few days?" Lory said when it was only him and Ren left. He purposely told Yashiro to leave the two of them alone.

Ren said nothing.

Lory laughed. "You suddenly called me at 10 am Sunday morning, and told me that you two wanted to talk about Fuwa bugging Mogami-kun. It surprised me, Ren. So, if you had dragged her with you that Saturday night, where had she been?"

Ren still said nothing.

Lory sighed. "Let me guess. She stayed with you in your place." It made Ren press his lips together. "Let me guess again, you two camped out in your living room talking about the stalking incident or to be exact, you interrogated her like some jealous boyfriend, then you two fell asleep after you somehow settled it." Lory saw Ren blinked. "Hey, it was midnight already so it's possible. Fuwa called again, at 4.30 am –crazy guy with no common sense, ah… and you purposely picked up the phone, somehow spited him and he came here today to pick a fight with Mogami-kun. Sounded to me he was the jealous boyfriend. Tell me if I'm correct."

Ren twitched. _Shouldn't __you say "correct me if I'm wrong" instead?_ "You sounded very sure. I don't think I have to add anything. Let say that you're right, _shachou_."

Lory pouted. "You're really not cute, Ren."

Ren sighed. "Well, I have nothing to say. Just make sure that it's being investigated thoroughly. I don't want her to get hurt."

"You care about her. I know that. You love her. I know that too. Do you two…" Lory grinned. "Started something then? I can feel your affections for each other." He was happy actually.

Ren grinded his teeth. "It's just like … friendship? You hold out your hand and comfort your friend when they are hurt right? Mogami-san is probably hurt because of this. She also felt guilty. Well, I don't know."

"Didn't seem like that to me." Lory smirked when he saw Ren's brows furrowed. _Mogami-kun has probably fallen for him. She isn't the type to show her weakness in front of others yet she gave in so easily to Ren, in front of me and Yashiro-kun __none the less__. Looks like the mighty has fallen. I want to say congratulation since he'd somehow won the fight but this stupid guy doesn't know __it__ yet._ Lory laughed inwardly.

* * *

Ren heaved out a deep breath when he left Lory's room. Yashiro was waiting for him outside.

"Done already?" Yashiro asked. "I'm done with your new offers as well." Yashiro grinned. "You'll like this. You definitely have to take this one."

Ren ignored him. He noticed an incoming call and glanced at the caller id. "Sorry, I have to take this." He walked away.

_That's weird! Maybe Kyouko-chan?_ Yashiro shrugged_. If it was his other female co-stars, he wouldn't take the trouble to pick it up now. _"15 minutes tops, Ren. We have to go soon."

He saw Ren waved at him and sighed. He decided to go down to the basement and wait for him there. He smiled evilly. _Must be Kyouko-chan. I'm sure of it._

* * *

Ren wondered what Kyouko wanted to say. He was sure it was some usual nonsense about thanking him for his help with the matter, sorry for imposing on him, blah blah blah. He could find a hundred of reasons why Kyouko suddenly requested to meet with him before they started the Heel Siblings act.

He waited inside the car in the hotel's car park. He had told Kyouko where he parked. His head snapped up when he heard someone knocking on his window. He opened the door lock. The person opened the door and hopped in.

It was Kyouko. She looked a bit pale and he was worried.

"Are you okay, Mogami-san? You look unwell."

"I'm fine."

"Are you sure? Are you up to Heel acts?"

Kyouko nodded. She bit her lower lip hard.

"Mogami-san, stop biting your lip. You could bleed yourself." He held out his right hand and cupped her face. His thumb brushed her lower lip.

Kyouko stared up at him. "Um…don't be so kind to me, Tsuruga-san. I don't deserve it."

Ren frowned. He sighed inwardly. _See! She's just like her usual self. Probably thanking me for this whole matters all over again._ Ren braced himself for the 'assault'.

"I just wanted to say sorry. I understand if after this you hate me and will probably want to disown this lowly _kouhai_ of yours."

Ren lifted his brows, waiting.

"In a moment of heat, I told Shoutarou that I'd use your kindness and steal all your acting skills so then I could be a better actress." Kyouko cited. "I don't want you to get angry again just because of him and my stupidity. I'm sure that Shou isn't done with me yet so rather than have him told you this, I figure it'd be better if it comes from me." Kyouko took a deep breath. "He would do anything to spite you that I'm sure since you're important to me and it'd lead to my own despair so…" She smiled bitterly. "I'm sorry, Tsuruga-san. I really don't deserve your kindness. I didn't mean to say that. I regretted it and I want you to know this." She told herself to go on with the last straw. She stared him in the eyes. "You're the best _senpai_ and mentor ever. I'd do my best as Setsu."

Kyouko took Ren's hand in her and put it down slowly. She smiled and bowed deeply and got out of the car.

Ren stared at the door when Kyouko shut it. His gaze followed her back side.

It was a hell of a confession. He didn't see it coming. He was hurt by that statement. He closed his eyes, breathed deeply and cursed. "What do you want me to do with this, Kyouko?"

* * *

They acted as Heel siblings perfectly. As usual, he was the doting brother and she was the busybody sister. They still went everywhere like they were lovers. They were always hand in hand with their fingers laced.

They came and went to the set in such weird vibe that the rest of the casts and crews didn't want to think about. They already thought of them as incestuous siblings since they acted nothing like the real siblings. They had even caught them when she was kissing him on his forehead for good luck and he kissed her ear before they walked into the set. She only shot them a sly smile and enjoyed their scandalised expressions.

Konoe had known what his casts and crews thought about Cain Heel and his sister. He forced himself to admit that his hunch was probably right. He was sure that Ren had no known lover and the only person who could put that hickey on his neck was only Kyouko. Everyone on set had already known about the hickey and no one dared to say anything. Well, Murasame actually stated it once and Cain only sneered at him and told him to mind his own business in his curt way.

Konoe himself didn't dare asking Kyouko whether she was actually Ren's lover. He didn't have the chance. Not once had Kyouko broken character as Setsu since they now came on time.

Meanwhile, Kyouko had to resort to all her acting skills. She told herself that she was Setsu. She didn't even care when Cain walked in on her accidentally again though she was decent when he entered the bathroom. She was awfully hurt. She loved the man, but the man probably hated her now. She felt so upset yet the act had to go on. She was still grateful that she could meet and see him in daily basis even though she wasn't herself.

Ren himself had to suppress all his frustration. He kept thinking about Kyouko's confession. He let out a deep sigh. He didn't like it. He wondered what Fuwa had said that led her to make such a statement.

* * *

Other than that, the news that Kyouko from LME was stalked by someone who claimed as Fuwa Shou had hit the television news. It wasn't only tabloids now. It was considered a big news that someone as popular as Fuwa Shou had actually stalked Kyouko, LME's rising actress. They wondered whether it was really the real Fuwa. But still it hit quite hard on Akatoki's name.

Journalists could be everywhere and there were some of them actually lurking around LME at the time it happened. They asked around, the receptionist, the beefy and burly securities who had thrown the so called fake Fuwa out of LME, and also the bystanders. The receptionist innocently showed them the signature she'd got from the man. It made the press happier since it was the authentic proof that the man was the real Fuwa. They even managed to take pictures of the blond guy and posted it. Of course, Fuwa Shou's fans denied it but not the haters and the elders. They didn't care whether it was the real Fuwa or fake Fuwa. Stalkers must die!

For several days, the news kept spreading around. They wanted to interview Kyouko, Tsuruga Ren and Sawara. After all, those three threw him out of the building. Sawara refused to comment and holed up in his office. Ren and Kyouko practically didn't exist for 5 days when they were playing the Heels though they managed to corner Kyouko in her Box-R outdoor shoot.

She only smiled and said no comment when asked and ignored all the questions directed towards her. The news reporter guy actually swooned at her sexy smile even after Kyouko excused herself and went back to the set. He jokingly said, "Well, Kyouko-san appeared at the Dark Moon Ending Party interview so beautifully and now…" The reporter shifted and let the cameraman took Kyouko's figure, standing and completely in character as Natsu. "Can you see that?" The camera zoomed in and took Kyouko's whole body shoot. "The sexy and pretty goddess. Oh, even I want to stalk her. Haha… joking."

* * *

Shou sulked in the corner when he and Shouko were summoned by Akatoki's director, Akatoki Masanori himself. He was forbidden to step out of his room after the news. Shouko scolded him nonstop whenever she had the chance and he told her to shut up. Shouko was the one who felt like the biggest idiot in this whole matter. She was sure that it was Shou in the news. She already knew that her charge recently felt agitated when it concerned Kyouko.

Now the boss had called them. He had the PR guru with him and they wanted to tackle this matter.

"So yeah, since it wasn't clear whether it's Fuwa-san yet," the PR guru –Kawakita Motoharu— said whilst eyeing Shou. "We can rest assured but it hit our agency's name quite hard."

"What do you suggest?" Akatoki asked.

"It wasn't that bad actually but I think we have to do something. If Fuwa-san doesn't go out and show his face, people will further think it's true," Kawakita said.

"But the press…" Shouko protested.

"Nah, it's not that bad of publication actually. He could deny it but this is the wrong part of your strategy to not let him go out for these last few days, Aki-san," Kawakita countered. "People already thought that the guy in question was the real Fuwa Shou though some still doubted it and with him holing up, it didn't help matter."

Shouko bit back a retort. _It's called lying low, you bastard!_

"The suggestion, Kawakita-san," Akatoki pressed.

"I'd suggest a 'greet and meet' at the biggest music shop in Shibuya area. It will be a good chance to promote the recent album released and to clear out the tension. Fuwa-san could give out the reason that he was busy writing a new song when asked about his whereabouts."

"Oh, that's a good idea. Thought, Fuwa-kun, Aki-san?" Akatoki turned to Shouko and resisted an urge to sigh when he saw the sulking singer. He tried to be patient since currently Fuwa Shou was the biggest source of business in his firm.

Shouko lifted up her hands. "Couldn't agree more, _Shachou_. I'll have Shou ready for the event."

"Good, it will have to be two days from now since we have to get the words out and prepare," Kawakita added.

* * *

Kyouko and Ren were in Shibuya, near the Shibuya station. They would shoot an advert for the popular watch brand in Japan there since the advert was about a couple of lover meeting in the Shibuya station. The guy would wait for his girl in front of the Hachiko statue.

The advert offer came right after that Dark Moon Ending Party requested them to star in the advert for the company's brand. They would also be the brand's ambassador.

Kyouko was happy that she was already made up when from the corner of her eyes she noticed Ren's arrival. She had memorised all her lines and created a character for herself even though there was no character's names. Ren would have to call her Kyouko and she would have to call him Ren.

She felt uneasy because she had to greet him as herself though she wanted to do it as her character. She fiddled with her long wavy dark wig's end. She was dressed in white buttoned up shirt and jeans.

"Mogami-san, it's been a while," a deep voice greeted her.

Kyouko's head jerked up and found Ren staring at her. Her supposedly calm demeanour that she created for her character, faltered. "Ah…um…" She bowed to Ren.

They were together all the time but of course since they weren't themselves, it felt strange. They were close yet far at the same time.

"It's nice to see you, Tsuruga-san. Please treat me well," Kyouko politely said but she didn't look him in the eyes.

Ren sighed. "Likewise. I look forward to shooting the scenes with you. Let's do our best."

"Hai!" Kyouko bowed again.

Ren shoved his hands in his jeans pockets. He was dressed in the same white buttoned up and the same coloured jeans like hers.

He didn't know what to say since Kyouko didn't even look him in the eyes. He gave up because he didn't want to make a scene there. He turned his back at her and walked towards Yashiro.

* * *

At the same time, Fuwa Shoutarou sat impatiently inside the music shop. There were mountain stack of CDs on the table where he sat. He was bored and sleepy though he was excited as well. He loved being adored by people especially girls. Perhaps it could take his mind off somewhere.

Meanwhile, Shouko and Kawakita stood at the corner of the room. They were waiting as well. It was almost time to begin the event and they could hear fan girls squealing inside the shop.

"Fuwa-san is sure popular eh?" Kawakita said.

"Yes, he is. You know that his newest single beat his current no 1 single. Though he's rather immature sometimes but we don't have to doubt his quality in this business." Shouko beamed with pride.

Kawakita laughed. "Yeah yeah. I'm the PR remember? You can cut that crap. Ehm, but I have a question, Aki-san."

"What is it?"

"It's between us. Was it really him who stalked that actress?" Kawakita lowered his voice. "From the photo, it is him, right?"

Shouko's mouth dropped open. She quickly closed her mouth. "No comment."

"Spoilsport. I take it as a yes then. Your reaction gave it away after all." Kawakita shrugged. "Sometimes you can't just hide it because as a PR, I need to know about it so I can do something to help counter it."

* * *

It was 10 am in the morning. Fuwa Shou's Greet and Meet event was officially started. The music shop was full of squealing fan girls and there were some guys as well. The event went well till they heard some ruckus outside.

"Eh? What? Tsuruga Ren is shooting for an advert near the Shibuya station? Really? It's not far from here then."

"Yeah. It's for Saiko couple watch. It's with Kyouko, you know, his co-star, that scarred girl from Dark Moon."

"Eh? No way… Mio? She's scary."

"Did you watch that Dark Moon Ending Party? She's so pretty in there. I'd say she looked twice prettier and twice more mature. Also that recent image of her from her current drama, no wonder there were some stalkers."

"Eh? Didn't they say that the stalker is…" The girls outside the shop looked at Shou's poster on the entrance door.

"If the stalker is as handsome as Fuwa Shou, I would want to be stalked too.. haha.. but still it's creepy…"

Shou, Shouko, Kawakita and the rest of the people occupying the shop heard that clearly. The girls were talking so loudly after all.

"Hey, I'd rather go and see Tsuruga Ren's shooting. What about you?"

"Yeah yeah… I want to see it too but what about Fuwa Shou's signature?"

"There's always next time. It's not every day we get to see Tsuruga Ren shooting live. Come on!"

"You're right!"

"I'll go too."

There were a lot of "Me too" heard inside the shop. Only the loyal fans stayed.

Shou's face changed. He didn't like this sudden change. Shouko and Kawakita felt headache was coming. Kawakita was thinking hard whilst Shouko hurriedly walked towards Shou's desk.

"Behave!" Shouko reminded him. "Don't cause a scene, Shou! Do you hear me?"

Shou scowled.

"Hiyaa.. they were so rude, leaving so suddenly just because of Tsuruga Ren's shooting near this place," one of the fan girls said.

They were all trying to comfort Shou. Shou smiled and thanked them for that.

"Wah, this is crazy. Tsuruga Ren…on television now."

All the eyes were directed towards the big plasma screen at the corner of the shop.

* * *

The advert shooting was taking a break. The journalists near there immediately took the chance to interview Ren about the recent incident in LME where someone who claimed as Fuwa Shou came and demanded to meet with Kyouko.

Ren had actually wanted to say 'no comment' but he thought that Fuwa might see the interview and he wanted to give him a piece of his mind.

"Ah, yes. Indeed I helped throw out the stalker," Ren confirmed with a smile.

The journalists quickly asked another question. It wasn't every day the tight-lipped Tsuruga Ren would answer their questions. "Do you think it's really the fake Fuwa?"

"Hmm… I'm not sure." Ren was still smiling. "It can be either."

"Why do you think he stalks Kyouko-san?"

"Well, isn't it obvious? He loved her so much that he stalked her."

The journalists were asking question frantically whilst Shou gritted his teeth. _Huh? Love her? Why would I? __I'm not stupid like__ Kyouko._

Kyouko grimaced. _Tsuruga-san, he's saying that line again. Shou didn't love me!_ She suddenly realised. _Wait up! Is it because he hates me?_ She immediately felt there were hundreds of needles pricking into her heart.

"I don't care whether it's the real Fuwa or fake Fuwa. If that's his way of showing that he cares, it's sort of twisted, isn't it? She'd stay farther even." He shrugged innocently. "I care about Kyouko and I sure don't want her to be stalked. So, quit your stalking behaviour, whoever you are Mr Stalker. We take care of our own." His eyes were piercing.

With that, Ren turned and left the journalists, leaving the securities to deal with them.

* * *

Ren's words stomped onto Fuwa Shoutarou's heart and mind. He was pissed off. Tsuruga Ren had ruined his day. He didn't just take his fans away from the event, he even dared to comment on that incident. He gripped the pen in his hand hard and almost broke it. _You don't know what you're talking about, Tsuruga Ren. You think you've won? Ha! I'd kick Tsuruga Ren's arse anytime soon. Just you wait!_

* * *

**A/N : Well, ch 198 pushed me a little and tada... The Fourth Victory is released. ^ ^ Okay, I know that maybe some of you haven't read ch 198 yet because it's in Chinese raw. So I'm sorry that I put a little of it in here.**

**Thanks for reading, subscribing, favouring and leaving reviews on this fic. Please review if you'd like to tell me what you think!**

**Thanks to Shiroyuki76 for proofreading this chapter.**

* * *

**Note on terms :**

**Seiza : traditional formal way of sitting in Japan**

**Shinsengumi : special police force in Kyoto, which was organized by the Bakufu during the Bakumatsu period**

**Makoto : sincerity**

**Hachigane : iron headband**

**Haori : kimono jacket**

**Oya oya : Well**

**Tsuba : Sword's guard**

**Hakama : a type of Japanese traditional clothing.**

**Katana : Japanese sword**


	5. The Fifth Victory

**Disclaimer : I don't own Skip Beat!**

* * *

**The Fifth Victory**

_I care about Kyouko and I sure don't want her to be stalked._ These words kept repeating in Kyouko's mind. She felt hopeful that maybe Ren didn't hate her though she knew she didn't deserve Ren's kindness.

"Kyouko-san, are you ready for next scene?" the assistant director asked.

Kyouko jerked up in surprise. "Huh? Yes. I'm sorry." She hurriedly stood up and walked over towards the station's door entrance.

The scenes inside the _densha _and when the heroine got out of the _densha_ took quite long since they had to ride on the train back and forth to get it from several angles. It went well but since _densha_ was a public transportation, they couldn't do anything to stop it or to hire it and had to follow the regulations.

Meanwhile, the scene where the hero waited in front of Hachiko statue whilst looking at his watch had finished quite a long time ago. Now they were about to take the scenes when the couple met up.

Kyouko was nervous. There were so many people around. She was afraid that she'd fail it and embarrass herself and Ren. _No!_ She told herself. _I can do it!_

* * *

_**Kyouko got out of the train. She walked slowly and then she saw the love of her life waiting for her in front of the Hachiko statue. He was standing with his arms crossed across his chest. His front hair covered his eyes. She smiled and called out to him, "Ren!"**_

_**Ren lifted his head and his eyes lit up when he saw his beloved walking towards him with a smile on her face. His heart skipped a beat. He started to walk towards her. They met in the middle. **_

_**He held out **__**his arms**__**. "Kyouko, you finally came."**_

_**She took his hands and stepped forward. "Did you wait long?" she asked.**_

"_**No." He lifted his left hand. Her right hand was lifted at the same time, displayed both their watches clearly. "You are on time."**_

_**He put his arms on her waist and she put her arms on his shoulders. Their foreheads and the tips of their noses met. They closed their eyes and smiled.**_

* * *

"Cut!"

The scenes were retaken from different angles. It went pretty well. All scenes were completed in one takes.

Director Toda was satisfied. He knew Tsuruga Ren was well-known as one take king since he had worked with him several times either alone or with co-stars. But if he co-starred with an actress, one scene would at least be retaken for several times. Those actresses couldn't keep up with him and partly because they were too fascinated with him.

He was amazed with Kyouko. Not only she managed her solo scenes all in one takes, she managed to finish in one take with Ren as well. She had a good chemistry with Ren. He could feel the sizzle between them. On top of that, her acting was superb just as he had heard from his fellow directors who had worked with her. _She's brilliant! She has a bright future in showbiz._ Toda smiled. _I want to work with her again, if given __a__ chance._

He walked over to thank the two actors for a job well done. "Kyouko-san, Tsuruga-san, good job! It finished earlier than we'd planned." He offered them a warm smile.

"Ah, thank you, Director." Kyouko bowed.

Ren bowed as well. "Thank you, Director."

"No need to thank me. On the contrary, I'm the one who should thank you two. It's such a pleasure to work with two brilliant actors." He grinned. "Ah, anyway, thanks again for the job well done. I hope I can work with you two again."

Ren and Kyouko bowed whilst Toda only waved at them, swivelled and walked away.

Ren and Kyouko stood in their place. An awkward silence stretched though they could hear the squealing fans around.

"Should we head to wardrobe?" Ren asked.

"Un."

They both walked silently towards the trailer vans and got in. Ren went into the left van whilst Kyouko went the other one.

* * *

When he was changing his clothes, he noticed Yashiro's gaze was directed at him.

"What?" Ren asked.

"I noticed that you two barely talked to each other. Is there trouble in paradise?" Yashiro shrugged. "You are doing fine as Cain Heel right? Still have trouble sleeping?" Yashiro grinned wickedly.

Ren stared at him, said nothing and resumed changing his shirt.

Yashiro sighed. _Something must have happened__. Kyouko-chan seemed aloof as well._

"Actually…" Ren seemed to contemplate on something.

"Hmm?"

"How does my schedule look like today?"

Yashiro said nothing but opened his notebook and scanned through the pages. "Hmm… this job is finished earlier than we thought. You have nothing for now. 7.30 pm to 9.30 pm you have a job meeting. At 10 pm, you'd have to meet Woods-san in Hotel's basement car park for your Cain Heel acts."

"Can the meeting be rescheduled?"

Yashiro lifted his brows in amusement. "Is there something…" he stopped and snickered. "What? Has Tsuruga Ren just asked for a reschedule? Wow, hell is going to freeze anytime soon."

Ren shot him an annoyed look.

Yashiro grinned. "Nothing is impossible. I'll see what I can do." His glasses clinked. He put on his gloves and pulled out his mobile phone. He called the person in charge for their job meeting tonight. Yashiro smiled throughout the phone conversation. He had a mischievous smile plastered on his face after he finished the call. "Nah, you're cleared till 10 pm." He snickered. "Don't worry about me! I can go home by myself." _I could predict what he wants to do. Perhaps patches __things up__ with Kyouko-chan. Ren is too easy to read. Whenever it concerns Kyouko-chan, he behaves strangely. _

Ren stared at Yashiro and said, "Thanks. I owe you one." He then stepped out from the trailer.

"Have a nice date!" Yashiro said to the closed door then jumped in glee.

* * *

Kyouko heaved a deep sigh when all her makeup had been cleaned, her wig gone and she felt… like herself. She felt tired and unsettled but knew that she had to pull herself together.

She thanked the makeup artist then stepped out of the trailer. Her eyes widened when she noticed that Ren was leaning against the trailer.

"Tsu… Tsuruga-san. Thank you for your hard work." She quickly bowed.

She heard Ren sigh. She straightened up though she didn't dare to look into his eyes. _It was easier when I'm playing a role._

"Do you have any job after this?" Ren asked.

She shook her head. She usually helped out in Daruma-ya whenever she had time but Taishou and Okami told her to not come to Daruma-ya for a while until her stalker issues were resolved. She thought to go back to LME because she felt wrong going back to Kanae's place when Kanae wasn't even there. She temporarily lived with Kanae when she wasn't acting as Setsu.

"Then, come with me?" Ren tried to sound nonchalant.

Kyouko lifted her head and stared up at him. She looked puzzled. "Where to?"

Ren smiled and offered his hand. "Somewhere fun."

She stared at his offered hand and took it in hers.

Ren held her hand tight and pulled her along with him softly. "We'd better hurry."

* * *

Kyouko blinked when a rather large baseball cap was put on her head. "Wear this!" Ren said. Meanwhile, he took off his wig, put it on the dashboard, and ruffled his front hair. He looked a bit like Cain, only without the grey contacts. He then put on a pair of black framed glasses.

"Ah, it's too big for you," he said again when he realised that half of Kyouko's face was practically covered by the cap. He took off the cap and Kyouko's eyes went wide when she saw his hair. She also noticed the wig on the dashboard.

"Eh? So it's a wig?" She pointed at his hair then at the wig on the dashboard.

"Uh, yeah. If I dye my hair every time I need to become Cain, I'd get bald soon." He laughed. "So, I wear this wig as Tsuruga Ren." Ren stared at Kyouko and thought of what to do to disguise her. "Hmm, maybe you can wear the wig."

He took the wig again and put it on her head.

"Is it too big?" Ren asked whilst adjusting it. His fingers tickled her neck. She bit her lower lip to prevent herself from letting out a giggle.

She shook her head, trying the firmness, and said, "No, but it could get loose. I have some hairclips." She rummaged through her bag and pulled out some hairclips. She adjusted the wig so it attached firmly on her head. "I'm done."

Ren resisted an urge to laugh when he thought about his Tsuruga Ren wig on Kyouko's head. On her, the hair was longer but he liked it. "Okay." He turned off the engine and got out of the car.

Kyouko lifted her head, stared at the view before her and mused. _An amusement park?_

She was about to open the door when the door was opened from the outside. She saw Ren smile at her and again, he offered his hand. She smiled back awkwardly and took his hand.

She stepped out of car and looked around. There weren't many people around since it was a working day.

"Come on! We're going to have fun."

"Un!"

* * *

Right after buying their tickets, with Kyouko fussing over paying for herself and Ren rejected her money, they went straight to the camera shop to buy a disposable camera. Again, Ren swatted her hand when she offered to pay half of it. She pouted and he pinched her nose for that.

They seemingly forgot that they were on dispute. In their minds, they were about to have fun and just wanted to forget all those problems they had.

They boarded on various rides, from roller coaster, twister, and so on. They also went into the _obakeyashiki_, tried some games, and without hesitation boarded on merry go round like a couple of primary school kids. They laughed, had their photos taken –alone and together, bought and ate some junk foods and just simply had fun. They decided to board on the big wheel to see the sunset before they went for dinner.

* * *

When they were inside the big wheel and it started to move slowly towards the top, silence stretched. He sat facing her. She was looking outside the window though she could feel his gaze on her.

It was windy. They could feel it inside the carriage.

"Mogami-san," he called out.

She turned her head and stared at him hesitantly, unknowingly biting her lower lip.

"Don't be so scared!" he said and smiled. "I don't hate you, you know."

Kyouko's eyes widened. She blinked. "I'm sorry."

Ren shook his head. "You must have a reason why you made that statement, right?"

She took a deep breath and nodded.

"I felt hurt actually." He wouldn't pursue the matter since he didn't want her to be sad again. He was hurt even more when he saw her get upset.

Kyouko flinched like she was slapped.

"Relax. I'm not blaming you. We came here to have fun, remember?" Ren leant forward and took her hand. She resisted at first but then relaxed. "I didn't mean to spoil the fun. I just wanted to tell you that I don't hate you. I care about you…Kyouko." He smiled. "Ah, maybe I shouldn't call you by your first name. My bad…" he added when he saw her stunned expression.

Kyouko shook her head. "No, it's okay. You can call me Kyouko." _I like hearing it. Tsuruga-san always calls me with Mogami-san but I like to hear my name from his mouth. _She hurriedly scolded herself. _It doesn't mean anything, Kyouko. Don't get your hopes up! You have to be grateful that he didn't hate you like you'd thought and acts friendly with you. _

He shot her a warm smile. "Okay, Kyouko."

She smiled and felt her face warm. "Thank you, Tsuruga-san. I'm glad that you don't hate me." She felt so relieved and happy with this turn of event. Her shoulders felt light. She didn't realise that her tears fell down her cheek. She was still smiling.

Ren held out his hand and wiped her tears with his thumb. "Don't cry, Kyouko!" His left hand cupped her face and she leant into his hand, savouring the warmth. He pulled her into his arms. He was content because the girl he loved was in his arms.

* * *

The rest of the ride was spent with looking out of the window, enjoying the beautiful view. She sat beside him with his arm on her shoulder.

"It's a beautiful sunset. Too bad, we're going down already," Kyouko commented.

Ren chuckled. "We can go back here or… maybe next time we can go to Disneyland instead. I know you'll like it."

"Disneyland?" Kyouko's voice sounded surprised. "Yes, I'd love that."

She stared up at him with a smile and he stared back at her. He slowly leant down till their foreheads touched. He leant down more, tilted his head and…

Knock! Knock! Someone was knocking on their window.

They jerked away in surprise. They saw the guard grinning at them. They both blushed. They bowed to the guard, almost forgot Kyouko's bag inside the carriage and then hurriedly walked away.

* * *

Kyouko almost couldn't suppress her embarrassment. _What was that? What was that?_ She asked herself. She felt his lips brushed hers for mere seconds. Was it just her imagination? She blushed. _Hiyaa… but no way right?_ She stole a glance at Ren. If it wasn't dark inside the car, she was sure that her face would look like a steamed crab and Ren would notice it.

_Calm down!_ she told herself. _Don't encourage yourself! Remember, you won't do stupid things like throwing yourself at Tsuruga-san, right? Quit dreaming, Kyouko! _She tried to pull herself together and act casual.

Meanwhile, Ren resisted an urge to let out a groan. He felt so annoyed or maybe grateful that the guard had disturbed them at the 'right' time. But he swore he felt her soft lips on his for mere seconds and she didn't even freak out.

He didn't want her to freak out. He questioned himself whether he'd moved too fast. He stole a glance at her. _But she looks composed…_ He felt his face warm. He suspected that there were blushes on his face. He was thankful that it was dark inside the car or she'd notice his tomato red face.

_Calm down, Ren! She might not be interested in falling in love for the second time yet but you have time. You have the advantage. You just have to convince her that you're the right man for her. _

* * *

They were having dinner at the family restaurant that Kyouko liked a lot. He remembered when he first took her to this restaurant and smiled meaningfully. He liked seeing her eating her hamburger with satisfaction clearly showed on her face. _She didn't change._ He thought.

She noticed his staring at her and blushed. "Um, you aren't hungry, Tsuruga-san?" She felt that it was a déjà vu.

Ren smiled and took his cutlery. He started to eat. "No. It's just when I see you eat, it looks so delicious. I couldn't help but be amazed."

She blushed redder. "Well, I love hamburger. It's been a while since I last ate it."

"I know." He chuckled. The memory of a hamburger lover little girl in pig tail came into his mind again.

"Hey, then what about Fuwa Shou's Greet and Meet. Did you all get his signature?" They heard a girl asking someone. They turned their heads to the source. They saw that there was a foursome sitting near their table.

"Ah, no actually. We ended up going to see Tsuruga Ren's live shooting near Shibuya Station. It was a really hard decision to make. But when you put Tsuruga Ren and Fuwa Shou as options, I'd choose Tsuruga Ren anytime."

"Me too. Me too," the other two girls said.

"Too bad I had to babysit my little brother, or I'd go see Tsuruga Ren's live shooting as well. Haha…"

Kyouko cringed inwardly. _Shou must __have__ hated it when he heard __about this__ but Tsuruga-san is the most popular celebrity so most girls would probably do the same __thing__. _She stared at Ren and resisted an urge to laugh whilst Ren played with the fork in his hand.

He didn't know what to feel in regard to that matter.

"Eh, but actually, since they said that Tsuruga Ren was shooting alongside Kyouko, I wanted to see the girl whom was rumoured had been stalked by _nise_ Fuwa."

"So, was she as beautiful as that interview?"

"It's hard to say. She looked different in that interview. She also looked different in her current drama. Not to mention when she was Mio. I hate to admit it, but that girl is beautiful. Of course if she appeared to look like Mio instead, I can't say the same, because she scared the hell out of me."

"Agree agree. Mio is scary, but it's just meant that Kyouko did a great job portraying her."

"Let's leave Mio out of this. The point is she looked beautiful, that's why they said it was not a wonder that she was stalked, right?"

"But if the stalker is Fuwa Shou, won't you feel honoured?"

"Eh? Stalker is stalker. It's creepy."

"Even if the real Fuwa Shou was the one who stalked her, I won't find it strange at all. You know, I looked her up. She was the Dark Angel in Prisoner PV, the one who killed the Devil. It's Fuwa Shou's PV. Since he worked with her, and might have found her pretty, wouldn't he think to stalk her?" The girl made a cha-ching voice with her fork and knife. "Great deduction, don't you think?"

The other three nodded.

"Haha kidding though…"

The foursome then laughed again.

Ren and Kyouko stared at each other. Kyouko blushed because she wasn't used to people praising her. She didn't see it coming. They both smiled and enjoyed the rest of their dinner time.

* * *

"Tsuruga-san, thank you for today," Kyouko said. "I had fun."

"I had fun too, Kyouko." Ren smiled.

Kyouko fidgeted in her seat. Whenever she heard her name from his mouth, she wanted to squirm so badly.

They had arrived at the basement car park where they were supposed to meet Jelly. They stayed in the car because it wasn't time yet and the van was nowhere in sight.

"Ah anyway, has _shachou_ contacted you in regard to your mobile phone? You're still using Setsu's mobile phone, right?" Ren asked.

"Um, not yet." Kyouko leant back against the comfort of the passenger seat. "Yeah, I'm still using Setsu's phone. Shachou calls me at Setsu's number for job related matter till I get back my mobile phone."

Silence. Only the sound of the car's engine was heard.

"Ah, um, about the photo, just let me take care of it," Kyouko suddenly said. She felt strangely disturbed by the silence.

Ren turned his head at her and nodded. "Okay. We can split the bill."

"No. It's on me. You paid for the tickets and the camera. At least let me take care of this."

"I was the one who asked you to go there with me so it's okay for me to be the one who paid for it," Ren countered.

She pouted. "But I wanted to pay for myself too."

"Next time you can pay, that is if you fast enough." Ren chuckled. "But the photo, we should split the bill or I can take care of it too. You choose!"

"Split the bill then," she reluctantly agreed. _Next time? Tsuruga-san said next time. Oh yeah, he said that next time we can go to Disneyland. What does this mean? _Kyouko bit her lower lip. _No no no! Don't think too much. He was just being polite._

"Kyouko, I think Miss Woods has just arrived." Ren pointed at the slowing down white van.

"Ah, then we should head there now." Kyouko fumbled with the seatbelt.

"Wait up, Kyouko!"

She stopped and stared at him with an enquiring look.

"The wig."

"Ah, sorry, I forgot." She quickly took off the hairclips, shoved it to her bag, and took off the wig. She handed it back to him. "Thank you."

"No problem. Let's just head there together."

"Un."

* * *

They cringed when they saw Lory inside the van. He was in Van Helsing mode. He smiled and said, "Yo! How come you two arrived together? If I'm not mistaken, Mogami-kun should be the one who arrived first since she only had that advert shooting, and Ren, you have a job meeting till 9ish. It's only 9 now."

Before the two could answer, Jelly jumped in, "Good evening, Kyouko-chan, Ren-chan." Both actors greeted her back. She then tilted her head to left. "Hmm? You two seem happy. Something good must have happened, eh?"

Both actors got flustered. Lory noticed that and smirked. _There's something for sure._

"Mogami-kun, can I have your time?" Lory asked.

Both Ren and Kyouko stared back at Lory. Kyouko nodded.

"So Ren-chan, you'll go first. Come on!" Jelly dragged Ren with her to the other part of the trailer.

When Jelly and Ren were out of their view, Lory's face turned serious. He took the white bag that was on the tableside and handed it to her.

Kyouko stared at it incredulously. "What is this, Shachou?"

"Your mobile phone, Mogami-kun. With new number though." Lory twirled his moustache. "I had it investigated. We'd contacted the mobile service provider to find out, well, I had to pull some strings to make it happened. In short, now we know his number. Have put it in your new mobile so then you'd know if he calls. But no worries, I've requested the mobile provider to block all calls from this number." Lory laughed.

"Ah, I see." She took the white bag. "Thank you, shachou."

Lory waved his hand dismissively. "As for your address, we're still trying to find out how he was able to know. I have several guesses on it and working on those angles. Maybe Nanokura Mimori had a look on your data at school and told him, or he hired a PI and had you followed, or he found out from your CV. Akatoki does have it. You worked with them once for that PV after all though if that's the case, I couldn't imagine how he could obtain it."

Kyouko nodded.

"One more." Lory handed her a business card. "From tomorrow on, Morinozuka Takashi will be the one to contact you for your job. He's your manager. He'll be here soon."

Kyouko blinked. "A manager?"

"Yes. You need a manager." Lory shrugged.

"But…"

"Mori-kun is the best. He could also act as your bodyguard. He's…" A faint knock intercepted Lory's words.

Lory gave her a go-ahead nod. Kyouko went to the door and opened it.

A tall man with cropped dark hair and flat expression appeared before her eyes. "You must be Kyouko-chan," Morinozuka said. "I meant Mogami-san. I believe Takarada shachou has told you about me."

"Ah eh… Nice to meet you Morinozuka-san." Kyouko bowed. "Yes. Shachou has just told me. He said that you're my manager?" She sounded unsure.

Morinozuka shot her an impassive smile. "Yes, that's right and you can just call me Mori."

"Mori-kun, you came?" Lory greeted him with a sly smile. "Get in and close the door, please."

Mori stepped into the trailer. Kyouko blinked. _Uh, Morinozuka-san –Mori-san— is even taller than Tsuruga-san, ehm, by 2cms I guess. _

"So, this is it," Lory said. "Mogami-kun is acting as Setsuka Heel alongside Ren. I'd already explained why." Lory cleared his throat. "Also, are you clear with the thing I've told you about the other day?"

"Yes. I'm taking care of the investigation. And I've sent notification mails to all contacts with phone numbers in Mogami-san's phone several days ago from a mock number. We'd just have to wait for him to call. If I see private number, then it must be him. Have to record it for sure, so we have authentic proof, and can use it to file for a restraining order," Morinozuka said.

Kyouko bit her lower lip. It sounded serious to her ears but if that was what they had to do, she'd play along.

"We can hold the restraining order. I should call Akatoki myself and arrange a meeting if this is going the bad direction. If we do the restraining order first, I'm afraid Akatoki would sue us. Press could be brutal." Lory sighed.

Morinozuka seemed to think. "Right. Then we probably have to sit with Akatoki-san and the guy in question to solve this matter first. But since he isn't disturbing Mogami-san, it should be fine for now."

Lory nodded.

"Kyouko, your turn," they heard Ren's voice joined in.

"Eh, I… excuse me." She bowed and went for makeup.

Lory's brows lifted. _Kyouko? He calls her by __her__ first name? Since when?_ Lory smirked. "Ren, come here. Meet Mori-kun, Mogami-kun's manager."

Ren nodded. "Nice to meet you, Mori-san."

"Likewise, Tsuruga-san."

Ren assessed Morinozuka and felt a little annoyed with Lory for hiring a guy to be Kyouko's manager. But he had to admit that Morinozuka looked convincing and professional, and he was burly. _Kyouko should be safe with Mori-san._ Ren thought.

Morinozuka felt Ren's gaze on him. He stared back at him openly though he said nothing. He immediately felt that Ren was acting like a suspicious boyfriend. He bit back a comment but instead he said, "Shachou, I'll excuse myself now."

Lory gave him a go-ahead nod.

"Excuse me, Shachou, Tsuruga-san."

Lory waved playfully and Ren nodded curtly. They saw Morinozuka get out from the van and closed the door.

After mere seconds passed, Lory snickered and Ren turned to stare at him. Lory shrugged innocently. "Cool guy, right, that Mori-kun? Still young. He's one year younger than Yashiro-kun. Oh and…" He enjoyed seeing Ren's jaw tensed and his teeth gritted in annoyance over his teasing. "He's got black belts in Aikido, Kendo, Jujutsu and Karate. Mogami-kun should be safe with him."

Ren shot him an annoyed look. "I guess so," he retorted.

"You said you don't mind if I get a guy to be her manager, remember? What's with that sulky face?"

Before he could answer, they saw Kyouko in Setsu's outfit approaching them with Jelly right behind her.

"All set, Mogami-kun?" Lory gave her a playful smile.

Kyouko –Setsu— nodded with a smile.

"Then off you go." He waved.

They obediently left after excusing themselves politely. Lory grinned wickedly.

"Ren-chan looked happy, you know. But just now he looked annoyed with something and I wonder whether it was just because he had entered Cain mode. What happened?" Jelly said.

"Nothing you should worry about." Lory grinned wider.

"If you say so."

* * *

Fuwa Shoutarou couldn't stop scowling. He laid on the couch, still in his jeans, white shirt and leather jacket. Both of his hands were under his head. His mouth kept cursing a certain tall actor.

_Che… care about Kyouko you said? She'll never ever fall for you._ His lips twitched into a glorious smile. _She can only love me and me alone. Well, I'm sure she must still have feelings for me even if it's hatred so she'd keep __thinking__ about me. You have no chance, Tsuruga Ren!_

His face turned into _Niou_ when he was reminded about the public's accusation. _I'm not a stalker, damn it. I just wanted to talk to Kyouko to make sure that she keeps her words, after first making sure she's safe from that Tsuruga Ren. _

His hands balled into fists. _How dare he trash my event!_ Shou sat up and stomped his right foot on the floor. _And you too, Kyouko!_ _How dare you team up with him to spite me! Ha! Just you __wait,__ I'll make sure you lose your bet then you can go back to Kyoto to serve the guests in my family's ryokan forever. _He looked satisfied with his thought.

His eyes fell onto his mobile phone on the table. He picked it up. _I probably can't intimidate Tsuruga since I don't know his number but Kyouko… I could intimidate her and rile her up. She tends to do stupid things when riled up._ Shou laughed evilly.

He scanned over the contact's names. _You think I can't get your new number? _He snorted. _That's a piece of cake. _

Shou had been so pissed off at being thrown out of LME. It was humiliating to be treated like that in the public. He sulked. He whined. And on top of that, he had to listen to Shouko's scolding. He had enough of it but he knew he had to lie low or Shouko would not let him hear the end of it. _She's nosier than my mother. _

When the company suggested the Greet and Meet, he wasn't exactly happy. He still wanted to sulk and licked his wound but then realised that maybe it was just what he needed, that was to go out and to spread his charm. And what happened? _That Tsuruga bastard trashed my party._ He gritted his teeth, annoyed all over again.

He started to dial the new number. He looked over at the clock on the wall. _It's only 10 pm, __she should still be awake,__ right? _

He was rather impatient with the long dial tones that signalled there was no one picking up. _That stupid Kyouko! Is she already asleep at this time? What a baby!_ His eyes widened upon realisation. _No way right? She can't possibly recognise my number. _

Then he heard the phone being picked up. He waited for the other party to talk first before he rambled on. _Come on! Talk Kyouko, talk!_

He heard the other party sigh. _No! Don't hang up!_

He was about to open his mouth when he heard a deep voice –clearly not Kyouko's, said, "I guess it's Fuwa Shou-san?"

Shou knitted his brows. _Who the hell is this guy? It's not Tsuruga__.__ I know Tsuruga's voice._ "This is Mogami Kyouko's phone, right? Who are you?"

"Oh, I shall introduce myself then. But you are Fuwa-san, correct?"

Shou grunted.

"Fuwa-san, I'm Mogami Kyouko's manager, Morinozuka Takashi. I heard that you'd been bugging my charge. Might I ask, what do you need from her?"

"I don't have to tell you, Morinozuka," Shou said. "Why is it you guys always disturb my efforts to reach Kyouko? I just wanted to talk to her."

"If it's job enquiries, you can talk to me, Fuwa-san."

"I call her personal mobile. Of course it's not about work. You've got to be kidding me, Morinozuka. I'm not going to talk to you."

"Too bad. I'm your only channel now. If you have a job proposition for her then I can arrange a meeting."

Shou scoffed. "Why would I propose a job to her? You crazy or what?"

"And why wouldn't you? Mogami-san is a rising actress. She's got several offers."

"So what? I wouldn't because she's nowhere near my level, okay? Moreover, Akatoki's got more beautiful actresses and more… my level." Shou smirked. _Take that, Morinozuka! You think you're great just because you're Kyouko's manager? She's still __a__ nobody in showbiz. She's just got her name out there a little because of Tsuruga. Still nowhere near __defeating__ me._

Morinozuka got irritated. _Not his level? Who does this guy think he is? _"Well, if you've finished insulting LME and Mogami-san with your mentioning Akatoki, then I have nothing to say to you. One thing for sure, Mogami Kyouko had stated her wish to not meet or talk with you, ever. Thank you and have a good night sleep, Fuwa-san. "

"Wait!"

"What else?"

"Why can't I talk to Kyouko without going through you? Is there any other way?"

"Told you that I'm your only channel. You have no other choice. Why, you asked? Isn't it clear? You stalked her, manhandled her and called her at ungodly hours. Give her a break. She's an actress and also a high school student. Moreover, which normal girl would want to let you meet her after those all? No one would I think, unless they're as crazy as you," Morinozuka stated. "Last time I watched television and read tabloids about her and her stalker issues; most people said 'Stalkers must die!'" Morinozuka grinned. "If you keep doing things this way, Mogami-san will never see your way, Fuwa-san." He sounded sympathetic. "Okay, I said my share of lines. Good night, Fuwa-san and do not try to call this number again. It's futile!"

With that, Morinozuka turned the phone off. He was amused that Fuwa Shou would still try to call his charge and wondered how on earth he managed to get her newest phone number. He had homework to do and he already got what he needed.

* * *

Meanwhile…

Shou was petrified in place with his phone still on his ear. He put down his phone and tried calling again because he didn't believe in what Morinozuka had said.

"The phone you are calling is currently disconnected. Please try again!"

He threw his phone to the corner of the room after he listened to the same replies for nth time. "What the f*ck! She's nobody yet reaching to her is like reaching to the Emperor," Shou growled loudly. _I only wanted to talk and have to be fast or that Tsuruga will sweep her off her feet. I can't let her forget me just like this! Damn Kyouko! Damn Tsuruga! Damn Sawara! Damn Morinozuka! F*ck you all! _He kicked around and stumped onto the table.

Fuwa Shoutarou groaned in pain whilst clutching onto his right calves. He then went back to sulking again on the couch and had another sleepless night.

* * *

**A/N : Hi! I'm back with 5th Victory. I feel the need to explain. This fic is a _fast paced_ fic and short. I cut several things there and here. It will end soon, at 2 chapters more. So, there will be less drama situation than my other fics because I intended this one to be focused on the couple's relationship could develop with Fuwa's taunting them in the background, how they wanted so badly to get rid of him because he only gives them griefs and how Fuwa Shou is finally defeated and punished. I am most definitely not a Fuwa Shou's fan so this fic will be very harsh on him. I do not have any pity towards this character. I dislike him from the start though I know he could be sweet but after thinking it again, I decided I still dislike him (^.^) and I came to hate this character because of recent chapter 190 to 195. So, once again, I feel the need to warn you, dear readers. I think Fuwa Shou deserves all the punishment exacted on him in this fic. At last, this fic is not for Fuwa's fans!**

**Thank you for reading, favouring, subscribing and leaving comments on previous chapters. Leave a review if you'd like to tell me what you think.**

**Thanks to Shiroyuki76 for proofreading this chapter.**

* * *

**Note on terms:**

**Densha : Train**

**Obakeyashiki: haunted house**


	6. The Sixth Victory

**Disclaimer : I don't own Skip Beat!**

* * *

**The Sixth Victory**

Kyouko –Setsu— was wide awake when her supposed brother was still dead asleep. She sat up and yawned. She rubbed her eyes, trying to sober up. Her eyes flickered towards the digital clock planted on the bedside table. It displayed 05.00.

She slowly put her feet down on the floor and lifted her both arms and stretched her body. Her gaze fell on the sleeping man before her eyes. Ren –Cain— was indeed still asleep. His blanket covered his whole body and half of his face. His front dark hair was messy and covered his right eye. He balled himself into a cocoon when sleeping.

She stared at him and smiled. She was happy that they had made up and be friends again. She shook her head. _No!_ _Not friends but back to becoming senpai and kouhai again,_ she quickly corrected inwardly.

* * *

Ren was actually awake though he pretended to be asleep. He was aware that his supposed sister had already woken up. He didn't know how he knew but he felt her gaze on him.

It was like she had developed a new habit. She would wake up and stare at him for several minutes before she went for her morning shower. He had been feeling it for this past week since it had never happened before.

She probably thought that he didn't know or aware of it but it wasn't like he could just go back to sleep after he woke up. He really wanted to open his eyes and see how she would react. He felt sceptical that she wouldn't act like he wished for. He knew that she wouldn't break character though he was dying to know why she behaved that way.

An experiment wouldn't hurt, he decided. He opened his eyes and grunted.

* * *

Kyouko's heart skipped a beat. Her eyes widened. She was surprised to hear that grunt and when she noticed he was staring back at her sleepily.

_He didn't know that I was staring at him right?_ She panicked inwardly. She scolded herself for being such a fool. She thought he was still asleep and couldn't resist staring at his sleeping face. She had even wanted to reach out her hand and touch his hair. _Kyouko, you're so stupid! If you keep doing so, he would __of course__ know._

She didn't know how to respond. She stiffened. _Calm down!_ she heard her inner heart told her. _You're Setsu, remember? Just give him some Setsu-like respond. _

"_Niisan_?" she called out to him tentatively. "Are you awake?"

"Ah. Is it time to wake up?" He almost couldn't contain his smile but he liked the way she had reacted.

"No. I've just awoken and felt a little disoriented." She faked a yawn. "I'm going for a morning shower then I'll make our breakfast." She shot him a smile. "But if you want to use the bathroom first, I'm okay with that."

He sat up and stared at her. He smiled and she blinked at that. "If you say so then I'll use the bathroom first." He stood up and held out his hand to pat her head. She saw him took out his clothes from the wardrobe and not long after, his tall frame was out of her sight.

She was holding her breath till she heard the bathroom's door closed in a thud. She raised her both hands and cupped her own cheeks. She felt her face warm. _That was close!_

* * *

"Are you okay with going alone to the studio?" Setsu asked when they were about to part ways. She had Box-R shoot scheduled for the day so she had to head to basement to meet Jelly and her manager, Mori. She also had to go to school afterwards to hand out her homework.

Cain grunted as an answer.

"Niisan!" Setsu pouted. "You sure you're really okay by yourself? You won't get lost? You won't wander around the shopping district and get to the studio late? I worry about you."

Cain nodded. "Don't worry! I'll be there on time."

"I just don't want that Cheese Brain saying bad things about you again. I hate hearing it!"

Cain snorted. "Why would I care about what he said? If you're that worried, you could just come with me."

"You know I can't today."

He smiled. "Even though it's for me?"

Setsu puffed her cheeks.

He grinned. "Okay, okay. I got it." He ruffled her hair and stepped closer to her. He hugged her tight. "You behave too, kay?" He leant close to her face and kissed her near her lips.

She resisted an urge to squirm because of that kiss. Instead she smirked, tiptoed and kissed him back on his right cheek. "Okay."

* * *

Kyouko noticed an incoming mail when she was having her break with her co-stars. She was just checking on her mobile phone. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw that there was a mail from Ren –from Ren's mobile mail address, not Cain's. She blushed and her co-stars were all looking at each other. There were grins on their faces. She didn't notice and proceeded with reading the mail.

It said, 'Hi Kyouko, how's your day? I'm having a break here.'

She quickly typed back an answer. 'I'm also having a break. It's a fine day so far. The shoot was going smooth as well. How's your side?'

Another reply came back. 'So far so good. By the way, when is your next day off? With a manager to sort out your offers, I guess you're starting to get busy?'

Kyouko smiled. 'Not as busy as you. Aside from that Saiko's photo shoot for official posters and magazine ads with you, the 'mission', Box-R and… oh, it will be Spring break soon, which means that I will get a break from school. As for day off this week will be this Sunday.'

'I'm off this Sunday too. So, let's go to Disneyland? We talked about that the other day, remember?'

Her face reddened more. She didn't even hear her co-stars started snickering. They elbowed each other with teasing grin on their faces. She typed out a reply. 'Okay, let's go there then.'

'We'll talk about the arrangement later. Sorry if I disturbed your lunch time. You must be having a lunch right now, I guess? I'll let you go back to your lunch. Have a nice lunch!'

She bit her lower lip and smiled. 'No worries. Don't forget your lunch too, Tsuruga-san! Have a nice lunch!'

There was only ':-)' come back as a reply.

She flipped close her mobile phone. She lifted her head and noticed that the girls –Chiori, Makino and Yuka – were grinning at her and wiggling their brows suggestively. She blinked.

"Someone's got a date?" Makino whistled.

"Eh? No," Kyouko hurriedly denied. "It's not…"

"Liar!" Yuka added and stuck out her tongue at her. "That's clearly from a guy. Natchan scored a date."

Chiori stared at Kyouko and said, "I'd bet it's from the other Love Me senpai, isn't it?"

Makino and Yuka turned their heads at Chiori. They were baffled. "Isn't that a girl?"

"Well, Kyouko-san always behaves like that when it comes to Kotonami-san. Another girls' day out?" Chiori grinned. "Right?"

Kyouko faked a smile. "Well, let's just eat."

They said with annoyed voice in almost unison, "Spoilsport."

* * *

Cain –Ren—was still staring at his mobile phone with a smile on his face. He reread all his mail chat with Kyouko over and over. He couldn't contain his grin. He managed to ask her out on a date. Well, a date to him. He didn't know what she thought about that invitation.

There wasn't really a significant progress on their relationship actually. They were acting as the Heel siblings for most of the past week though he had been trying to court her with sending her decorated email wishing her a nice day every single day. Funny he actually managed it when they were actually sleeping, and staying in the same room. He didn't know what she thought since she never broke character. It was as expected of her, that he knew. But seeing her replies made his days. Of course, he wouldn't ever break character again.

The part that kept his mood in check was that there wasn't any more of those disturbing calls from Fuwa. He thought that it was perhaps because she had just changed her number. He hoped that Fuwa would never find out her new number, ever. He knew that both Lory and Mori had sent a formal memo to Akatoki's boss in regard to Fuwa Shou's recent call to the mock number that Mori prepared. They had even had a meeting with Akatoki's owner to make sure Akatoki keep Fuwa Shou in check. With that, he hoped that Fuwa would give up this time and stop bugging Kyouko for good.

He leant back and his gaze fell on the food on the table. His eyes flickered to the blank screen on his phone. He pressed the button in the middle, saw her last reply, grinned at that, and then finally pressed the reject button for several seconds. The phone was turned off. He shoved it into his coat's pocket. He picked up the chopstick, opened the lunchbox lid and started to eat.

* * *

"Mogami-san, do you hear me?" Morinozuka asked.

"Eh? Yes…" Kyouko blinked. "What is it again?" She was inside the car. They had just departed from Box-R's shooting location.

Morinozuka glanced at her briefly then glanced back at the road, and repeated, "I said that we're going to head to LME first. Sawara-san has just called for another picking. I need to take your mountain of drama and advert offers and start to sort all those out. I've picked several that would boost your image from last week's offers that came into Talent section, and that the ones you might be interested in. It's in the dashboard's drawer. You can take it and review it now if you want."

"Oh, I see. Thank you, Mori-san. I'm sorry that I've been spacing out."

"No worries, Mogami-san," Morinozuka said with a hint of smile.

Kyouko opened the car's dashboard drawer and pulled out the tidily arranged documents. She put it on her lap and started with the one on the top. She flipped open the document but her mind started wandering around back to Ren's mails again. There were blushes on her face.

Morinozuka glanced at his charge and mentally shook his head upon noticing the blushes. _Girl in love. There must have been something good happened between her and… Tsuruga-san._ He smiled inwardly and decided to just let the girl be indulged in her own thought.

* * *

It was Saturday. Both Ren and Kyouko had the same job. They had a photo shoot for Saiko's official posters and magazine ads. The shoot was scheduled at 10am to 12am for outdoor shoot in Shibuya and at 13.30 to 15.30 in Fuji Studio.

They both shot each other a warm smile when they met on set. They were wearing the same outfit like their advert shooting.

As usual, Kyouko bowed politely to Ren and said, "Nice to work with you again, Tsuruga-san. Please treat me well."

"I'm pleased to work with you too. Please treat me favourably, Kyouko."

The outdoor shoot went well though it was a little stiff at the start with Kyouko being so nervous. But it headed towards a better direction afterwards.

She felt bad about that but after seeing Ren's assuring smile, she recollected herself. She told herself that she was playing the role so then she wouldn't get so agitated. She always felt everything was easier when she was just acting. So, even though she and Ren were shot in somewhat intimate embraces, she didn't freak out.

Their lunch session was awkward. With their managers around, they didn't get to talk as much as when there were only the two of them. They conversed around their jobs when Ren actually wanted to talk about their 'date' tomorrow. He hadn't made an arrangement with Kyouko yet, but since they still had the photo shoot at Fuji studio, he still had time until after the shoot finished. Or he could just call her later that night.

When they met back at Fuji studio, it was like a playback of their morning's outdoor shoot. Ren and Kyouko, again, shot each other with a smile. However, this time their gazes clearly lingered on each other's face longer.

Both their managers resisted an urge to squeal –in Yashiro's case—, and to shrug –in Morinozuka's case—. They both even made coughing sounds and they could see their charges jolted in surprise. Both of the managers were still with their poker faces.

And like the outdoor shoot, the indoor shoot was also finished without a hassle.

* * *

Fuwa Shoutarou had been so pissed off for being warned by his agency's owner the other day. He found it unbelievable that Akatoki had actually summoned him and Shouko just to 'talk' about Kyouko, the infamous 'Mio'.

"What's that girl to you anyway, Fuwa-kun?" Akatoki asked.

"Ah, she's just my stupid childhood friend."

Akatoki frowned. "So?"

"I just wanted to talk to her."

"What for?"

Shou stared back at Akatoki whilst Shouko rubbed her forehead.

"I don't think it's your business, Shachou."

"It's my business when LME's Takarada Lory and the actress' manager came to this office to tell me to keep _**my**_ employee in check. They wanted you to stop bugging her or they threatened to file for a restraining order."

Shou's temper flared. He snorted. "So what?"

"Fuwa-kun, do you realise how serious this is? You'd better not try to contact her again. I know Lory. He could be a ruthless bastard when it concerns LME. I just don't want to cross his way."

That got Shou's attention. "Huh? Isn't Akatoki a fair rival for LME? You're actually afraid of LME?"

Akatoki made a tsk sound and shot a glare at Shouko. He cocked his head towards Shou and hoped Shouko caught his message.

Shouko grimaced. "My apologies, Shachou." She then nudged Shou in his side and said, "Behave, Shou and don't talk to Shachou that way."

Shou had wanted to snap that instant but seeing Shouko's and Akatoki's stern faces, he made a tsk sound and said, "Yeah yeah. Got it. _Uzai na_…"

If Shou wasn't Akatoki's top source of business, Akatoki would have thrown him out from there himself but he still needed Shou. Moreover, with Shou being still under 18 years old without parental consent to work for him, he didn't want it to go to court. He had to tell Shouko to proceed with applying as Shou's legal guardian fast so even if they went to court, they wouldn't have to afraid of being charged with violating Child Welfare Act.

* * *

Shou had been lying low even though he was pissed off all the time whenever the memories of being thrown out from LME, of Tsuruga Ren trashing his event, and of the recent blow in the gut by some guy named Morinozuka came back.

Shouko couldn't do anything to lighten Shou's mood. Even Asami couldn't do anything else when the PV shoot for Shou's newest single was stuck because of Shou's bad mood. They were currently shooting the PV in Fuji Studio.

They let him when he asked for some time alone. He left the studio set and wandered around to find a vending machine. He needed something cold to cool his burning emotion.

He found one near the corner. He inserted the coin and chose the lemon isotonic drink. He bent down to collect his drink when he saw someone he knew well got into a room nearby.

_Tsuruga Ren!_ The source of his bad mood.

He collected his drink then opened the bottle lid. He then gulped down the whole content. _Time for a payback!_ He threw the bottle into the rubbish bin near the vending machine.

He walked with scornful strides towards the room and knocked on it hard several times. When there wasn't any reaction from the other side, he knocked again.

He finally heard the door clicked and Tsuruga Ren appeared.

* * *

Ren's eyes widened when he found a furious Fuwa Shoutarou before his eyes. He saw the other guy lifted his right fist.

"Ya, isn't it Fuwa Shou-san? The real one this time?" Ren asked with a smile.

Shou shot him a glare. "You think you're that great huh for dismissing me that way? There is only one Fuwa Shou, Tsuruga Ren."

Ren sighed. "Well, to what do I owe this pleasure, real Fuwa-san?"

Shou's lips pressed into a tight line.

Ren tilted his head to right. "Well, why don't you get in then? It's not good talking in the middle of the corridor. It will attract unwanted attention." He shifted a little.

Shou shoved him away and got into the room. Yashiro was there and he could clearly see that Yashiro was surprised.

Ren shrugged. He leant against the wall near the door after closing the door.

Both men didn't talk whilst Yashiro seemed to type furiously on his mobile phone. After that, he watched their interaction cautiously.

* * *

Shou's head was full of anger towards his archenemy. He was so angry at Tsuruga Ren's calm demeanour. He swivelled and faced Ren.

He was thinking about what to do to shake the guy. He didn't want that Tsuruga to get close to Kyouko. From their last encounter on the phone when Tsuruga Ren picked up Kyouko's mobile phone, it didn't seem that those two were in dispute. They were sleeping together or so they had made him think. He didn't believe it one bit because he knew that let alone sleeping together, seeing a topless man would have sent Kyouko freaking out.

He smirked when he realised that there was one thing he could use against either Kyouko or Ren. _Divide and conquer!_

He could see that Tsuruga Ren was staring at him coldly.

"I just came to warn you to be careful of Kyouko," Shou began.

Ren was silent. Yashiro frowned.

"Told you that she'd never fall for you, didn't I?" Shou shot him a smug smile.

"So?"

"Do you know what she said about you?"

Ren twitched. He already knew that. Kyouko had confessed about it but he was still annoyed to hear it from Fuwa Shoutarou's mouth.

"She teamed up with you just to spite me, which I knew. Well, she said to me that she felt nothing about you other than a respected senpai, and that she'd use your kindness and steal all your skills so then she could be a better actor than you."

Yashiro was horrified in the background and found it unbelievable. He stole a glance at Ren and surprised to find how calm Ren seemed to be.

Shou laughed cynically. "Uh, she even made a bet with me that if she couldn't be a better actor than you, she'd go back to Kyoto and serve as a _naka'i _in my family's _ryokan_ for good."

Ren blinked. _What?_ Ren was surprised about the bet but rather than being pissed off at it, he laughed. Since he didn't hear anything related to 'revenge' from Fuwa just now, he could laugh the bet off.

Shou was baffled when he heard Ren's laugh. "What's so funny? She's only using you, you know?"

"And if she could be a better actor than me, it'd be your loss, Fuwa-san. What're you going to do then? It's not fair if you don't do anything when you lose the bet, right?" Ren didn't want to comment on the 'Kyouko's using him' part. It was enough for him that the girl had honestly confessed about it and he forgave her since she must have had a reason for saying so.

"She'll never win. It will take her years. She couldn't even defeat me," Shou said smugly.

"Hmm… if she wins the bet, then what about you kneel before her and admit to your defeat?" Ren suggested.

Shou scoffed. "As if she will ever win this bet."

"Are you afraid of losing? I didn't hear you make your side of the bet. You have to play fair, Fuwa-san." Ren shrugged.

Shou gritted his teeth. "Fine! I'll kneel before her and admit to my defeat but I'm sure she'll never win."

Ren chuckled. "You will lose very soon, Fuwa-san."

"Huh?"

"Actors like us have something called awards, Fuwa-san. Unless Kyouko is a male, she wouldn't be the best actor. She could only be the best actress." Ren sounded like he was teaching a primary school kid how to count one plus one. "Which I'm sure we're already aware that her gender is female. The spring television drama academy award is coming soon. I'd bet my money that Kyouko _**will be**_ nominated for at least the best supporting actress for her role as Mio in Dark Moon. You obviously don't know how superior her acting is even if you had acted once with her."

Shou only blinked.

Ren shoved his hands into his trousers' pockets. "Well, even _**I**_ have to admit that she's got a better acting skill than me. Her acting is superb. I was twice outdone by her when we acted together. So, on the contrary, I am the one who have to work hard so then I wouldn't lose to her instead. Kyouko is a rough diamond but the more she's polished the more she would shine. Just you wait!"

Ren laughed cynically. "So, I'm afraid that you'd have to kneel before her and admit your defeat pretty soon, Fuwa-san."

Shou twitched though he could still get back at Ren. "You're pathetic, Tsuruga! You were just saying that to spite me, weren't you? Even if you love her, she wouldn't…"

Before Shou could continue further, he heard a loud growl coming and the door was blasted open.

"Fuwa Shoutarou, don't you dare have Tsuruga-san involved. I want you to leave Tsuruga-san out of this. It's between you and me." Kyouko closed the door in a loud thud. She glared daggers at Shou.

"Ha! You finally appeared just because of this guy?" Shou scowled.

"If you do that to spite me then yes." Kyouko crossed her arms across her chest.

Shou smiled smugly. "Too late. I already told him that you're just using him so then you'd be a better actor than him."

Kyouko flinched. She turned to look at Ren but didn't find him angry. She gave him an apologetic smile and he smiled back reassuringly.

"She had told me about that actually," Ren said with a smile.

"You lied!" Shou immediately reacted. "You couldn't have known. She said that because I accused her of becoming like those other stupid girls who'd fallen for you." Shou turned to Kyouko and grinned inwardly when he saw Kyouko's lips formed a grim line. He was sure of his victory since both Kyouko and Ren couldn't get back at him.

Ren didn't know what to say about that. He was partially hurt and surprised. _So, I never stood a chance, that's why Fuwa made that statement to me? But why…_

Ren's train of thought was intercepted by Kyouko's rueful laugh. "Fuwa Shoutarou, to you, I'm probably a stupid girl who has nothing but love in my mind. So what if I am? It's my business. So if you just wanted to keep insulting me as a stupid girl, I'd take it anytime because falling in love is not a bad thing. For someone who doesn't even know what love is, you don't have any right to call me stupid." She gritted her teeth and forced a smile on her face, and continued, "I don't care what you think about me, that I'm just like the other stupid girls who fall for Tsuruga-san or that I only have love in my mind. Yes, I might as well admit that I love him. I love Tsuruga-san. To hell with your accusation." Her face reddened. _Darn it! I said it out loud. Tsuruga-san is probably disgusted with me now._ "I really don't care anymore."

There were three shocked faces in that room after hearing Kyouko shouted out that she loved Ren.

Shou couldn't believe his ears. He froze.

Yashiro's mouth dropped open. He froze as well.

Ren was surprised. He didn't see it coming and his heart was full with warmth upon hearing the unexpected confession. From the corner of his eye, he saw a slow motion move of Kyouko trying to run away from that room. He shifted from where he stood and blocked the door. Kyouko gasped and her face and ears were completely red with embarrassment.

"Ah… I…" She stared down at her hands.

"Is it your habit to walk away after a confession? I won't let you get away this time, Kyouko," Ren said. He held out his right hand and tilted her chin so she had to look at him. He used his both hands and cupped her face. Her eyes were closed "Kyouko, look at me!"

Kyouko reluctantly opened her eyes and stared right into his eyes. Her lips trembled and her face was hot.

Ren smiled tenderly. "Listen to me well!"

She bit her lower lip.

"Remember I told you that Fuwa-san had waited for me at TBM just to give me a piece of his mind?"

She nodded.

"He told me that you would never love me."

Kyouko's eyes widened. Her mind ceased to think. "But he's wrong."

"I was utterly pissed off when I heard him say that, but now that I know it's not true, I feel relieved. You don't know how happy I am now." Ren grinned. "I love you, Kyouko."

"Eh?" Kyouko blinked and her tears fell down.

"I should have been the one to confess first." Ren grinned wider. "I was actually making some efforts to get you to see me as a potential boyfriend first before I could tell you that I love you."

Kyouko smiled shyly at him. Her heart was filled with warmth. She never once thought that Ren had feelings for her.

"Will you be my girlfriend, Kyouko? I will cherish you," he solemnly said.

She stared at him and smiled. The answer was clear for her. She didn't hesitate to answer, "Yes. I'd love to be your girlfriend."

He leant down and kissed her on her lips softly then pulled her into his arms. He hugged her tight and she hugged him back. They felt content and warm. They didn't think of anything else aside from finally having their loves reciprocated. They had even completely forgotten that they had audiences.

Yashiro was busy taking pictures with his mobile phone and squealing in the background. After he was satisfied, he walked over towards the still hugging new couple and tapped them on their shoulders. "Ahem…"

Ren and Kyouko pulled away, flustered. They stared at him with enquiring looks. They saw him grinning like an idiot and cringed at that.

"You two forgot that I and Fuwa-san are present here?" Yashiro shrugged. "I don't mind though and I'm really really happy for you two. But maybe we can leave now? You've already finished with your wardrobe after all, Ren. And Kyouko-chan, I actually thought that you'd already left with Mori-kun. I told him to quickly leave here with you but obviously you didn't."

Kyouko cringed when she saw Yashiro grinned like a Cheshire cat. "Err… I told Mori-san that I was going to finish some business with the idiot there." She pointed to the still freezing Fuwa Shoutarou.

"Okay, but we can leave now, can't we?"

Both Ren and Kyouko nodded. Either they didn't bother to tell Shou that they were leaving, or they had actually forgotten about his presence, they left without telling him, and Yashiro as the last one who left, closed the door with a loud thud.

* * *

Fuwa Shoutarou was left frozen in the dressing room. All of Kyouko's words and confession that he had heard just now had numbed his mind. He witnessed Tsuruga Ren's confession and he even witnessed the two kissing. He felt a pricking pain in his chest. He didn't know why. The pain seemed to weaken his stance as well and made him fall to his knees.

He blinked. He didn't want to believe what he had just heard and witnessed. _It can't be true! It can't be true! Tell me it's a lie! _His tears threatened to fall down. _It's a lie! It's a lie! _

He fell on his back and stared at the ceiling. His inner heart shouted in pain. He wanted to bawl like a baby and his tears finally fell down.

* * *

**A/N : ^ ^ Sorry, the chapter took me several hours to write actually but I was late because I've researches to do for my school's assignment. **

**To answer your questions about Morinozuka Takashi, yes, he's that Mori-kun/senpai from Ouran but he's got nothing to do with Ouran in this fic. I like this character a lot and thought that he'd fit in here so I decided to borrow him for this. Did you realise that Mori's profile in here wasn't the same as manga and anime? His height here is 1.92 m which was actually Mori live action's actor height. Also, I wrote him as being Kyouko's manager whilst in Ouran manga, he went to Law School. :) There won't be any more crossover.**

**I'd like to say thanks to all the reviewers in previous chapter. Thanks for reading, reviewing, subscribing, and favouring this fic.**

**I'd also to remind you once more. This fic is fast paced fic. It WILL be ended next chapter and next chapter will be long and seem very express to you. But that's my intention because this fic isn't solely focus on Ren and Kyouko, I have to focus on Fuwa's defeat too. :D **

**I mentioned a Child Welfare Act in this chapter. If I am to explain it, it's going to take very long. You can look it up, that is if you can read Japanese but there's some translated into English too. :) Japan still has many blur and grey areas in their law in regard to the MINOR under 20, under 18 and sexual consent. I read quite a lot of Tokyo's Youth Protection Law and Child Welfare Act. Even these two contradict each other. (laugh). ^ ^ Oh well, I'd probably continue bout this Law thing next chapter. **

**See you next chapter. Please review if you'd like to tell me what you think.**

**Thanks to Shiroyuki76 for proofreading this chapter. **

* * *

**Note on terms :**

**Uzai : nosy**

**Note on Child Welfare Act :**

**According to Child Welfare Act (not fully quoted), it is considered a crime to let a minor under 18 years old to work full time without a parental consent.**


	7. The Final Victory

**Disclaimer : I don't own Skip Beat! and Morinozuka Takashi from Ouran!**

**Warning : Lime/Lemon! **

**Attention : I think that you'd have questions for this chapter so... please read my Author Note to find out more about the story!**

* * *

**The Final Victory**

After they left Ren's dressing room, the threesome headed towards basement. Yashiro walked right behind the couple with mischievous smile plastered on his face. He was happy for Ren and Kyouko. _Spring has finally come for Ren and of course for Kyouko-chan too. Ah, I'm so happy._ He then stopped and frowned. _But this is real, right? _He looked at the couple before him again. They were hand in hand and their fingers laced. _Ah, it's real. I'm sure._ He smiled contently, happy with his own thought.

Kyouko's hands were cold even though Ren held her hand in his. She stole a glance at him when they were on their way to the basement. She wanted to believe that Ren's confession was real though she doubted it a little and was afraid that Ren did it only to help her and to spite Shou.

She didn't lie when she shouted out that she loved Ren. It was her deepest secret she didn't mean to reveal, especially in front of Ren, because she was afraid of heartbreak. She also didn't do that to anger Shou. She was just being honest and hoped that Shou would finally stop taunting her with this stupid-girl-in-love thing.

On the other hand, Ren was still drowning in his own euphoria after hearing Kyouko's blatant confession. He was ashamed of himself that it was Kyouko who confessed first. _Are you even a man, Tsuruga Ren?_ He asked himself. He stole a glance at her and frowned when he noticed her somewhat strained face. He also felt how cold her hand was. _Is she probably thinking that I was just doing that to spite Fuwa? Knowing her, it's probably that case. I have to convince her that it's all real, not a role playing or an adlibbing. _He was now eager to be with her, just the two of them so then they could make it all clear.

* * *

They met Morinozuka in the basement. Morinozuka didn't seem surprised when he saw the two actors hand in hand. He shot them a flat smile and said, "Is congratulations on your new relationship in the right order, Tsuruga-san, Mogami-san?"

Kyouko blushed and Ren smiled.

"So, the third wheels have to excuse themselves now, right?" Morinozuka grinned.

Both actors were surprised upon seeing him grinned at them. They thought Morinozuka was a cool type guy and never expected to see this playful side of him.

"Oh right, the third wheels have to vanish so then we won't disturb the love birds." Yashiro snickered. "Do you mind if I tag along, Mori-kun? I need a lift home."

"Of course not. You're welcome to join me, Yashiro-san," Morinozuka said. "So, excuse me. Tsuruga-san, Mogami-san."

Yashiro walked pass Ren and Kyouko then swivelled. "Congratulations and have a nice Saturday night." He winked then swivelled back and followed Morinozuka to his car.

* * *

Ren and Kyouko proceeded walking towards Ren's car. The closer they got the more nervous Kyouko was.

They got into the car and sat in silence. Ren turned on the car engine and turned to stare at Kyouko.

"It wasn't an act, Kyouko," he began.

Kyouko jerked in surprise. Her head snapped up and she saw Ren staring at her with that tender expression. Her heartbeat sped up.

"The thing I told you up there wasn't to anger or spite Fuwa." He smiled. "I have been hopelessly in love with you for quite long."

Kyouko's eyes widened. She didn't know how to respond to that declaration. She looked amused._ Is it really?_

"Is it that surprising?" Ren asked.

"Because… because… you're the most desirable man in Japan so…" She couldn't continue her words. Her face went crimson.

Ren chuckled and took her hand. He put her hand on his chest. She could feel his heart beating rather fast. "I'm only a man, Kyouko. I have weaknesses too. When it comes to you, I'm hopeless. I really wish you will believe me. I'm serious about all this between us and I hope it's the same for you."

Kyouko hesitated to say what was on her mind but then she felt that his heartbeat accelerated. She stared at him and saw the nervousness she didn't notice before. She was assured just with that. _He's serious about me. _ She smiled. "Un, I'm serious about what I was saying." Her face reddened more. "I've just recently admitted my feelings towards you to myself. I wasn't lying when I said 'I love you'."

Ren's face lit up and he was thoroughly relieved. "I'm glad that we clear that out." He lifted her left hand and kissed it tenderly. She was surprised and tried to jerk her hand away but he gripped it tight. He grinned at her then let go of her hand.

"Sorry, I was just…"

"Kyouko, it's okay." He held out his hand and patted her head. "Got any job after this?"

Kyouko shook her head. "Ah, but… I have to go to the photo print shop to pick up our photos."

"Then let's go get it!"

* * *

They went to the photo print shop to pick up their photo first. They had wanted to go to cinema but it was already 5 by the time they arrived at the cinema in the downtown so they cancelled their plan. They finally decided to go for early dinner instead.

In the end, they didn't go for dinner either.

Kyouko told him that she wanted to cook for their dinner, so they ended up going to the supermarket near Ren's apartment for groceries shopping. Ren grimaced when he saw her with three big plastic bags. He was waiting in the car since she said she would be fast and he immediately felt that he was a bad boyfriend by letting her shopped and carried all those bags on her own.

After putting all those bags near her feet in the front seat, Kyouko frowned when she noticed Ren's brows furrowed. "Is there something wrong?"

Ren nodded. "I should have accompanied you if I know you'd buy this many. I feel bad."

Kyouko chuckled. "It's not a problem for me, Tsuruga-san. I'm used to it."

"Ren," Ren decided to correct how she called him.

"Hmm?" Kyouko tilted her head, confused.

"You should just call me Ren, Kyouko."

Kyouko blinked. She was stunned. Her face flushed pink. "Eh? But…"

Ren smiled. "It's weird hearing you call me Tsuruga-san when you're my girlfriend."

She blushed redder at the word 'girlfriend'.

"Come on, Kyouko!"

Kyouko bit her lower lip. "Ren…sa…"

"No honorific, Kyouko. Just Ren."

Kyouko felt so embarrassed. She tried again. "Ren," her voice was barely audible. Ren chuckled at that and she went totally red. She took a deep breath and tried once more after seeing Ren's teasing grin. She didn't want him to be so smug. She said with louder voice, "Ren! Ren! Ren! Ren!" Then she stared back at him with her signature Natsu's smirk on her face.

"Yes, Kyouko. Kyouko. Kyouko. Kyouko. What's up?" He grinned wider.

She pouted. She felt that he was making fun of her. "You're such a bully, Tsu… I meant, Ren."

"I'm glad that you actually know about that."

* * *

Ren and Kyouko had had their dinners. Kyouko cooked Kyoto's traditional gourmet that Ren found totally different in taste compared to Tokyo's traditional gourmet. The flavour was softer and rather bland. He had never really enjoyed eating but he liked everything Kyouko had cooked for him.

And afterwards, they tried to find some interesting movie on cable but to no avail. They finally just sat down and then flipped through the photos they had collected from the print shop.

"You look funny here," Kyouko pointed at the photo where Ren made a silly face. "I can't believe that Japan's most desirable man could make this expression. Your fans are going to cry, Ren." She started to get comfortable calling him by his first name.

Ren poked her right on her side and she yelped. "You're the one to say. See, here!" he pointed to where Kyouko lifted her nose in the air so it looked like a pig's nose. "If people ever found out that Mio is actually like _**this**_, they'd laugh their pants off."

"Ah, that's better than when they reacted as if they had seen a ghost." She laughed.

He pinched her nose. "Cheeky."

The next photo made both of them smile. It was a photo of them inside the big wheel. They missed taking the photo right when they were at the top and when the sunset right behind them, but nevertheless, it was a good photo. They both smiled tenderly. Their happiness clearly reflected on their faces.

"It's too bad that the guard interrupted me that time," Ren commented.

Kyouko's head snapped up at him. "Huh?"

"Ah…um." Ren blushed. "I had wanted to kiss you. I think it was somehow the right mood?"

"Eh?" Kyouko blushed as well. "So I wasn't imagining things." She didn't realise that she said that out loud.

Ren was stunned. He stared down at her. "So I wasn't imagining things as well. I clearly felt…" He didn't continue his words. Instead his arm wrapped around her shoulders and his head leant down slowly towards her face till his lips touched hers softly.

Kyouko didn't know what to do. She closed her eyes. It wasn't her wedding day but she felt right being kissed by Ren.

* * *

The kiss that started out innocent turned into something more passionate the more they indulged in it. They seemed like they couldn't get enough of each other's lips. They assaulted each other's lips, biting and nipping. They moaned and groaned like animals on heat.

Their hands weren't idling either. They roamed each other's body, touching and exploring. It wasn't long till both of them lost their tops. They practically tore off each other's clothes. Their tops scattered around them in a mess. Ren had to work a little hard on losing Kyouko's black lacy bra though he managed to tease her and whispered it in right on her ear before he threw it aside, "So, it's not only Setsu. You indeed like this kind of underwear. It's unexpected of you."

Kyouko blushed red and slapped him on his shoulder upon hearing it and when she realised she was topless. She tried to cover her front but Ren was faster. He pried her hands away and said, "Don't hide it!"

He cupped her breasts, squeezed it a little and flicked her rigid peaks with his skilful thumbs. She closed her eyes and bit back a moan.

He leant down towards the upper swell of her left breast. He nipped her there till a red mark appeared. He heard her moan when he did it and it sounded erotic in his ears. Ren stared up at her and grinned. "I had wanted to do this too if you didn't stop me that time."

She blushed redder. She shoved him and he fell on his back on the carpeted floor. She straddled him and gave him a sexy smirk. She started to lean down slowly, seemingly tried to create a tension, and made him guess her next move. She then opened her mouth and took a big bite on his chest, right on his heart. "Ouch!" he exclaimed.

She giggled. "I had wanted to bit you here too if you didn't complain at that time that I did it wrong." She ran her finger along the bite mark she had created and felt him shivered.

"Is it a payback?" he asked with his husky voice and shot her that Emperor of the Night smile she knew very well.

She shivered when she saw that smile appeared.

Ren flipped her over. "Kyaa…" She fell on her back.

Before she could open her mouth to get back at him with her smart reply, he sealed her mouth with a deep kiss. His tongue got into her mouth, swallowing her moans. He pulled away a little, breathlessly said, "Kyouko, are you aware of what we are doing?"

She stared him in his eyes. "Un. I am."

"Do you want this? We can stop right now before we go too far. There'd be no way back once we…"

She lifted her both hands to cup his face and shut him up with a kiss. She said against his lips, "Yes. I want this." Again, she flipped him over and she went back to straddling him. She stared down at him. "I'm going to make you mine."

Ren blinked. He laughed a little and flipped her back and she was under him again. "That's my line, Darling. You're mine and mine alone."

* * *

"Hyaa…" she squeaked when she felt her body was lifted.

He walked towards his bedroom with Kyouko in his arms, her legs wrapped around his waist and his hands were cupping her rear. He stared down at her face with a smile.

She reached for his neck and kissed her way up to his lips. They kept kissing whilst pressing their bodies against each other. The friction felt good on their bodies.

Ren kicked the slightly opened bedroom door then got in whilst still kissing Kyouko. He dropped her on his bed.

She sat up and eyed his every movement when he unzipped his jeans and slid out of his underpants. She blushed when he stood naked before her. He came onto her and started kissing her again whilst his hands traced down her sides and went to the zip on the back of her skirt. He unzipped it and carefully pulled down the skirt along with her knickers.

He pulled her up and made her sit on his lap. They went back to kissing each other deep and hard. Their bodies pressed against each other, naked skin to naked skin. The passion burnt them like fire.

When he felt she was ready for him, he stared at her tenderly and drove himself into her. His mouth swallowed her cries. She sounded like she was in pain. Her tears fell down and she clung onto his big frame desperately.

"Are you okay? Do you want to stop?" he asked. He felt sorry that he hurt her.

She shook her head. "I'm fine." She bit her lower lip. "Is it over?"

He chuckled. "No. It's only the beginning."

With that, he pulled out and pushed back into her welcoming depth. He started to move inside of her steadily. He could tell that she started to feel good. Her moan was getting louder and she cried out his name over and over. He moved faster and sent them both soaring with pleasures.

They cried out each other's name and it echoed inside the room.

* * *

After that soaring moment, they both panted hard. Kyouko was on her back with Ren slumped down on top of her. He pulled out and rolled over. He grabbed the blanket and covered their sweaty bodies.

They didn't talk for a while because they were still out of breath.

When they finally cooled down, he asked her, "Are you really okay? I'm sorry I hurt you."

She shook her head. "I heard a lot. They said that first time always hurt." She smiled reassuringly. "I'm really fine, Ren," she added when she saw he felt guilty.

"If you say so." Ren smiled. "I wonder how I get to be so lucky." He chuckled. He pulled Kyouko close to him and spooned her from behind.

She laid her head on his arm. "Hmm?"

"Because you reciprocated my love and gave yourself to me."

She rolled over and faced him. She reached out her hand to caress his face. She smiled.

He smiled back. "But is it really okay with you? We didn't use protection, Kyouko." He stopped. "You could have got pregnant. I'm sorry. I forgot about that entirely, and… I actually don't have it."

She stiffened. She didn't think of that before. They were too indulged in their lovemaking session to remember about protection so it wasn't only Ren to be blamed. She was also to be blamed for being careless. "Um…" She stayed silent for a while and it worried Ren. She seemed to have something in her mind.

When she let out a deep relieved sigh, it scared Ren further since he interpreted it as a frustrated sigh.

"Kyouko?" Ren called out to her tentatively.

"No worries. It's safe for now. My next period is due in three days from today."

"Are you sure?" Ren frowned because he wasn't sure that there was a safe day in reproduction cycle. He remembered he learned about it at school but he wasn't really interested in it.

"My period is regular like a clock so it should be right."

"Okay, next time I'll have to remember about protection. Might as well start storing some."

Kyouko blinked. "You don't have any?"

"Hadn't I just told you that? Well, I didn't need any. I didn't have girlfriend at all, what would I need it for?"

"Eh? But you're Tsuruga Ren."

"So?" He found her answer amusing.

"I imagined you had had tons of girlfriends before. You're Japan's most desirable man, so of course…" Kyouko stopped for she was afraid she'd be ticked off if she continued. She was sure that he had had girlfriends. She felt jealousy burning her guts.

"No I didn't and that title is too exaggerating." _I don't need to tell her __about__ the time before I came to Japan. It's in the past. Kyouko is my present and my future. _"Are you okay?" he asked when he noticed she became silent.

She shook her head. "Nothing. I think I'm just… well. Nothing."

"You look upset."

She shook her head again. "Nothing really." She forced a smile on her face.

"You're clearly upset. Want to tell me what it is about?" He was sure that she was second guessing about his past girlfriends.

"Okay okay. I'm jealous. I was sure that you had girlfriends. It's just not possible if you had none before me."

He blinked. He was surprised that he guessed right. He let out a deep sigh. "Okay, I admit. I did have one or two girlfriends when I was still a stupid 15 years old. But that was in the past, okay? It's not important. I didn't love any of them. You're the first girl I've ever loved, and I want you to be my last too."

She didn't say anything and he was worried even more.

"Kyouko, please believe me. I won't do anything to hurt you. I love you too much."

She nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. Well, I just… you already know. I don't need to repeat. I believe you, Ren."

He kissed her cheek and said, "Thank you."

She grinned at him.

"Ah, now I had finally done what that rooster told me to do. Ouch… I can't believe that not only I learned about love from a rooster, and now I followed his advice as well." He laughed.

Kyouko frowned. "What rooster?"

"It's actually a guy inside a giant rooster suit. Well, I don't know his name, I called him _niwatori otoko_. He's quite helpful sometimes. Anyway, this funny guy gave me some advices on how to get the girl I love after telling me something about prelude to love. He said, 'seduce her'. I accused him as some kind of mafia for suggesting that but I actually did what he suggested and seduced you. What a crazy rooster." He laughed harder.

Kyouko stiffened.

Ren felt her body stiffened and asked. "What's wrong?"

"Ah, _ano_…" She hesitated. "Please don't get angry!"

"Hmm?" He was confused about her statement.

"That rooster was me." Kyouko said in a small voice.

Ren blinked. He couldn't believe in what he had just heard. "Huh? You were that rooster? But he's a guy."

She shook her head. "It's me. I just pretended to be a guy. The rooster's name is Bou. I just wanted to help you that time since you looked so depressed when you couldn't act out Katsuki. I swear I wasn't making fun of you." She sounded scared.

An image of Kyouko inside the rooster suit came into his mind. He found it unbelievable. "Oh shit! Pardon my language! I confessed to you unknowingly then."

"Huh?"

Ren laughed. "It's okay. I just felt funny all of a sudden. Don't you think it's funny that I confided in you about you, and you gave me an advice on how to get you?"

Kyouko thought back of what he'd said and mused. She laughed. It just clicked in her mind that indeed Ren had confided in Bou about a certain high school girl he had a crush on. "I don't know what to feel about that. It's… funny indeed." _I had actually given him an advice on how to get me? _

Ren cursed again. "I've just realised that you are not 18 yet, Kyouko. I'm so going to jail for this."

Kyouko blinked. "Why? Are you going to tell someone in law enforcement that we did this?"

Ren shook his head.

She smiled. "Then it's okay. If no one knows, then we don't have to worry, right?" She lifted up her body and kissed him on his lips.

"You're right. I love you, Kyouko."

"I love you too, Ren."

* * *

They had a good night sleep. As morning persons, they woke up early though they were still idling in the bed.

"Good morning, Ren," Kyouko greeted him.

"Good morning." Ren caressed her face. "Are you still up to our plan to Disneyland?"

"Un. Of course." She sounded cheerful.

"Is your body okay?"

Kyouko moved her body a little and said, "I guess so." She idled for a second before she realised what he was doing to her. "Ren, what are you… ah…"

"I'm just checking on you."

"You just wanted to cop a feel." She pouted. "Pervert! Tsuruga Ren is a big pervert!"

He laughed. "You're the one to say. You groped me down there when I was asleep."

"I didn't."

"You did," he whispered near her ear. "That day when you slept on top of me."

Kyouko's eyes widened. She tried to remember but she couldn't remember at all. "No. You lied, Ren. You just wanted to get back at me for calling you pervert."

He kissed her ear. "It's true. You didn't knowingly touch me but you touched me all the same. So, what did you squeeze and pull at that time? I asked you to let go of whatever you were holding onto, remember?"

"We woke up at the same time and…" She shook her head and something clicked. She remembered that she was holding onto her mobile phone, which later she found to be on the table. She went completely red. "Don't tell me that I…"

He laughed a little. "Yes, you groped me here." He took her hand and made her cup his erection.

She blushed when she felt it throbbing in her hand. "You…"

"I what?" His hand traced her side and cupped her left breast. His hand then went down and headed south, got lower and started to rub her sensitive bundle of nerves he expertly found with his finger. "You clearly like it." He reached lower and he slid his finger into her wet centre. "You're drenched down here, Kyouko. This tells me that Mogami Kyouko is a pervert as well."

"Ren!" She tried to pry his hand away from her sensitive lower body part.

He didn't budge and kept rubbing her in the same spot. She moaned and he sealed her lips with his and kissed her hard.

In the end, he made her come with his fingers and then they went for morning shower together.

Kyouko cried out his name when in the shower Ren made her come once again with him buried deep inside her.

"Uh, you're insatiable," she said breathlessly against his lips.

"But you like it, right?"

She laughed. "Yes, I think I like this."

* * *

Their relationship wasn't revealed to the public for quite some time.

Jelly first guessed about it when Kyouko appeared with the hickeys on her neck and upper chest. It wasn't difficult for her to figure out what had happened. The couple admitted to just coming back from Disneyland that Sunday night and both with glow on their faces. They had no other choice than to admit it. She congratulated them on their relationship and promised to keep it from Lory when they asked her to.

Lory found out about it at the end of their Heel siblings act. He laughed maniacally when he found out and made Ren annoyed and Kyouko flabbergasted.

Kanae was told by Kyouko about her relationship with Ren. She was happy for her and she grudgingly admitted that she would miss Kyouko because she was sure that Kyouko would escape from the pink curse pretty soon. She had no reason to stay in Love Me section anymore. Kyouko hugged her with her bone cracking hug and Kanae pretended to look annoyed by it.

Chiori found out about her relationship with Ren when she witnessed the couple kissing inside a car in LME's basement car park. She was passing by with her manager at that time. She was quite shocked though she congratulated her on that via mail and then in person when they met in Box R set.

Maria knew about it when Ren and Kyouko told her at the second Grateful party. The little girl was surprised but she congratulated them. She even told them she was happy that her two favourite persons were together.

Her Yappa Kimagure Bridge Rock Ishibashi niisans suspected it for a while. They saw Ren came to their studio quite often to ask Kyouko out to dinner. Sometimes he was even the one who drove her home instead of her manager Morinozuka. They were convinced that the two were dating when they caught them in Bou's hideout. Ren's arm wrapped around Kyouko shoulders and Kyouko was leaning against his chest. Hikaru was quite heartbroken whilst the other two tried to comfort their leader.

* * *

The casts and crews in Tragic Marker set were convinced of their incestuous relationship, especially after they noticed the hickeys on her neck and chest. Konoe was horrified after hearing about the gossip that went around the set. He wanted to ask but he didn't have the courage to do so.

At the other hand, Murasame confronted Cain for that though as usual, Cain just ignored him, and even told him, "Why are you always so angry at me? Maybe you need to get laid so then you'd be more cheerful and would stop bugging me?"

"It's because you're a _hentai_ _yarou_. You actually screwed your own sister. You're disgusting! F*ck you, Cain!" Murasame made a gesture with his middle finger.

Cain shrugged. "I'm not interested in man. Sorry." His statement left Murasame and the other casts gobsmacked.

* * *

Their first appearance together in public function was in Spring Television Academy Awards. Many journalists had started to wonder about the couple's relationship. They co-starred in Dark Moon and appeared in Dark Moon Ending Party interview together, then co-starred as a couple in Saiko's advert. And Ren's statement on Kyouko's stalker issues was also intriguing.

As Ren had predicted, not only was Kyouko nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Dark Moon, she had even won it. They actually saw Shou at the function but the guy seemed to be ushered by his manager to leave right after performing on the stage. He went missing quite fast. Ren had actually wanted so badly to drag the singer in front of Kyouko and demanded that he paid his side of bet. After all, Kyouko would obviously shine more in the showbiz after the awards.

They appeared together again in Summer Television Drama Academy Award. The journalist got even more convinced though they didn't get to ask the questions. Both the actors' managers stepped in at the right time. Kyouko had once again won the Best Supporting Actress, this time for her role as Kitagawa Natsu in Box R. And once again, Ren saw Shou got away from the function right after his performance on stage.

Third time was a charm. They appeared again in the Autumn Television Drama Academy Award. This time, not only the journalist, but also their fellow celebrities had started to question their nature of relationship. Many actresses blatantly expressed their jealousies towards the rising starlet's closeness to Ren. Kyouko won the Best Actress this time for her role as Gabriel in _Tengoku Kara Kita Tenshi_. She played an angel who descended into human world to help the human The God assigned her to. Her co-star for the drama was Murasame Taira to Ren's horror. Ren wasn't entirely happy about that. The drama was Kyouko's official debut after her guardianship issue was resolved with Morinozuka stood in as her legal guardian.

Her star kept shining brighter and brighter the more she climbed to the top. Of course, the higher she climbed, the stronger the wind. Jealousies, badmouthing, issues were always around and ready to take her down. She almost won every season's either Best Actress or Best Supporting Actress though she had to accept her defeats to some veteran actresses once or twice. She had also ranked number one on the list for the most inspirational teenage celebrity whilst Fuwa Shou was in the second place.

* * *

Her relationship with Ren was finally revealed to the public in the Tragic Marker's premier along with Cain Heel's real identity. The Tragic Marker premiered right after the New Year. Public was in awe upon knowing the actor behind BJ was Tsuruga Ren.

They were even more surprised when Ren admitted to being in a relationship with Kyouko after the journalists bombarded him with the question when they again saw him appearing in public function with Kyouko.

His other co-stars from the Tragic Marker especially the guys all patted him hard on his back for deceiving them. Murasame was the one who laughed the loudest. He kept saying 'damn you, Tsuruga-kun' though both men didn't hold grudge towards each other. Kyouko only smiled upon seeing their interactions.

The Tragic Marker casts also expressed their amazement upon the revelation of Setsuka Heel's real identity. They had to admit that Kyouko did a great job portraying Setsuka. No one could have guessed it. Afterwards, they all had teasing grins on their faces. They now knew that the couple was the real couple though they admitted to being disgusted by the nature of their relationship before they knew about who they were.

Konoe sweated in the background though he was relieved that they managed to gather many attentions for the movie despite of the issues between Cain Heel, his sister and the casts when they were still filming at that time. What made them feel honoured was the fact that Koo and his wife attended the premier as well.

* * *

Kyouko had moved in to Ren's apartment since her eighteenth birthday. Ren had actually wanted her to live with him since they started dating but Kyouko needed time to consider about living together with him.

Their relationship had ups and downs. Ren slowly told her about himself and his past for he didn't want to hide anything from her.

Their first fight happened when he admitted that he was her Corn. He didn't reveal his full name and only told her that his name was actually Kuon not Corn. She was surprised and felt like an idiot at first. She was so angry that he didn't outright admit to it the first time he found that stone. She punished him by ignoring him the whole day. She didn't answer to his phone call and his mails though in the end she couldn't resist to come home to him. She loved him too much to stay angry at him for long.

Their second fight happened when he admitted that he was Kuon Hizri, son of Koo Hizri. This fight happened before the Tragic Marker's premier. It wasn't very long from his first confession. Once again, she felt like a total idiot for she thought that he had fooled her twice. She wasn't as angry as when he admitted to be her fairy prince Corn. She urged him to reconcile with his parents since she remembered how sad Koo had looked when he was telling her about his son and how he felt that he failed Kuon as a parent. Ren explained the nature of his wrecked relationships with his parents, of Rick and of the reason he came to Japan.

She sympathised with him about Rick and finally understood the reason behind his bad dreams and strange behaviour. She now knew that the one with violent nature aka the Demon Lord was Kuon in surface not Ren.

Other than that they didn't usually fight, though after each fight they always made up and had earth shattering sex. He even once jokingly said, "Maybe we should fight more. Every time we fight, the sex is always better afterwards." She slapped him on his chest for that and he only laughed it off.

They had a pregnancy fright once when Kyouko's period failed to appear. But it happened because of her heavily packed schedule. It was just late for several days. They were quite relieved since they weren't ready to be parents yet. Kyouko was still 19 years and 4 months old and Ren himself wasn't really much older than her.

They had tried to use condoms for protection but didn't find it fit them and instead preferred natural birth control with calendar method. It wasn't easy for both of them. They were still young and their libido was still raging. Sometimes they had to improvise when it was not the right day for it since pregnancy was at risk.

The harder part in controlling their libido was when they were still playing the Heels. They slept in the same room and they didn't want to break characters. They wanted to stay professional as actors even though they were dying to jump each other's bones. They might seem like incestuous siblings as the Heels but they would never go with that act for they found it didn't sit right with their moral.

Ren had proposed to her on their first anniversary as couple and they had planned to get married especially after that pregnancy fright though they wanted to wait till Kyouko turned twenty first. Moreover, Koo and Julie kept nagging them to get married ever since he brought her back home to the States for a vacation once. Julie and Kyouko got along pretty well and Julie tried to spoil her rotten.

They didn't actually have problem with parental consent if they wanted to get married right away. They could easily get it from Morinozuka. He was Kyouko's legal guardian after all. They didn't have problem with both Taishou and Okami as well. The older couple approved of their relationship and was happy to hear about their marriage plan.

After months of waiting, and years of dating, they finally announced to the public that they were going to get married on February 10th next year –Ren's upcoming 24th birthday— at the night of her 20th birthday at the yearly Grateful party.

* * *

What happened to Fuwa Shoutarou?

After witnessing Ren and Kyouko confessed to each other that day, he retreated into his own world. He couldn't do anything right for quite a while. The PV shooting that day had to be postponed till two weeks later.

He could still write songs and his songs always became a hit. He became somewhat humble though he didn't express any excitement in public even after his songs topped the chart from week to week. Moreover, to keep Shou in check, Shouko as his legal guardian applied some rules for him to follow and was quite strict at that.

When they attended public function like Television Drama Academy Award for a performance, Shouko had to drag him away as soon as possible right after the performance since the probability of them running into Kyouko and/or Ren was quite high.

Shou knew that Kyouko had won several awards for her roles in many dramas. He also knew that she outdid him and snatched the top spot as the most inspirational teenage celebrity. He was quite pissed off at that and couldn't believe that Kyouko had proved herself as his worthy opponent. He still didn't want to admit to his defeat since he didn't think he had lost to her.

He was reluctant to attend the Tragic Marker premier but he had to. He saw Ren and Kyouko there. He had to swallow the pain when he saw Ren announced his relationship with Kyouko. The couple looked so happy and it broke his heart. He convinced himself that their relationship wouldn't last long. He was happier when he heard the public's speculation about the couple's relationship. Like him, they were sceptical about it.

He felt somewhat relieved and could leave the country for United States to pursue his music career further. He came back from time to time for his jobs in Japan since he still mainly recorded his album in Japanese.

When he had just arrived at Narita Airport and was welcomed by his sea of fans, he smiled cheerfully. He had just come back from the US after recording his first album in English. He wrote all the songs in the album and dedicated it to Kyouko. He was back and decided to find her. He didn't care. He just wanted her to know that he had changed and he hoped she could accept him again even though he had to start from being friends again.

He didn't watch television that often in the US and didn't actually have the time for it. He didn't know about Kyouko getting married on the day he arrived back in Japan. He only knew about it when he sat leisurely in the limo that the company provided for him whilst on his way to Akatoki. There was a television inside the limo.

His eyes widened when he watched the live broadcast of Kyouko and Kuon Hizri's wedding. The couple hadn't seen arrived at the church yet. The shoot was of the situation near the church the couple would tie the knot. There was sea of people came either to congratulate the couple or just passing by. He never heard about the guy though he thought he was right about Kyouko and Ren's relationship not lasting long.

He immediately reacted. Using a remote control, he opened the window between his seat and the driver. "Please go to this church." He named the church and the driver obliged. They turned and headed to Shibuya.

* * *

The wedding ceremony had proceeded till Kyouko and Ren –Kuon— exchanged their vows to hold and to love each other, for better, for worse, for the eternity whilst at the same time exchanging their rings.

The pastor proceeded with asking the attendees in the church whether there was any objection before he pronounced the couple as man and wife.

There wasn't any objection heard. The pastor then opened his mouth, and was about to pronounce it when…

"Stop the wedding!"

The church's door was kicked open. Fuwa Shou appeared with his messy dirty bleached blond hair. He was out of breath from running all his way to the church. He got caught in a traffic jam and since it was not that far from the church, he decided to run.

Inside of the church was eerily silent and people started to whisper around. Lory pressed his lips together in a tight line when he saw Fuwa Shou appeared. Morinozuka and Yashiro stood up at the same time, prepared to do their jobs as managers. Koo and Julie stared at each other confusedly. Taishou and Okami scowled when they saw Shou, they recognised him as Kyouko's stalker. Kanae narrowed her eyes and sighed. Even Maria reacted scornfully towards the intrusion.

Fuwa Taishou and Okami whom Kyouko had invited to her wedding stood up and saw their son for the first time since he ran away from home. They resisted an urge to come forward and scold him upright. It was crazy of Shou to disrupt a wedding procession. They didn't know what happened between Kyouko and Shou and thought that they were still friends. Seeing what had happened now made them doubt it and feel ashamed.

Kyouko and Ren looked at each other and then swivelled to face the church's entrance. They saw Shou walking towards them with fast strides.

Shou only had his eyes on Kyouko. He walked towards her and held out his hand. "Kyouko, I come for you. Will you go with me?"

Kyouko blinked. She cleared her throat. "I think there must be a mistake. Maybe you've got the wrong person?" She didn't want to be cruel especially on her wedding day.

"No. It's not a mistake. I come back to take you with me. Please come back to me! I'm willing to forgive you for leaving me to be with Tsuruga Ren 3 years ago and to apologise for my mistake if you come back to me." Shou sounded sincere. "I know you're angry with me but it's been years, Kyouko. Shouldn't you have already forgiven me? Are three years not enough to punish me? I know I was wrong and I will treat you better from now on. I promise. So, come back to me, please."

Whispers went around louder than before. Kyouko hated the way he crashed her wedding. She thought that he had vanished for good when they didn't cross way even in public functions.

"Shoutarou, do you really have to come and crash my wedding? I'm getting married to the man I love, for God's sake. Will you stop saying nonsense? You had all the chances years ago but you threw me away and I wasn't even worthy enough to be your friend. You used me as a maid, remember? I had already forgiven you. I didn't want revenge on you anymore. And honestly, I have you to thank for this. If you hadn't betrayed my friendship, I wouldn't have met Ren and known what true love is. So, thank you, Shoutarou."

"You're right. If he never treated you like that, we would probably never meet again, Kyouko." Ren smiled tenderly.

Shou's head snapped up to the groom. He didn't recognise who the man was. His hair was blond and his eyes were green. He clearly was a foreigner. But he knew and recognised his voice. "You…are Tsuruga Ren!"

"Ah, I'm glad you still remember me, Fuwa Shou-san. Ya, it's been… quite a while." Ren smiled.

"But your hair and your eyes. Is that even real?" he pointed.

Ren shrugged. "This is the real me. I announced my real identity several months ago. My real name is Kuon Hizri. I'm actually American."

"Hizri, that name sounds familiar, but…" Shou tried to think.

"It's not important. Can you just let Kyouko and I go back to our wedding procession? You're welcome to this church if you come to congratulate us." Ren smiled dazzlingly.

Kyouko cringed inwardly. _Shou, you'd better move your arse and leave. Don't anger the Demon Lord!_

"Eh, I just remembered. Didn't you make a bet with Kyouko years ago? That if she can rule the showbiz as an actress, you'd kneel down before her and admit to your defeat? She made it, you know? She's the actress with the highest salary for a single episode in television drama and she's only twenty." Ren beamed and his expression reminded Kyouko of Koo, his doting father.

"And if my memory serves, she outdid you when she topped the list as the most inspirational teenage celebrity," Ren continued with his dazzling smile. "I'm okay if you don't do it now because my wedding is more important. Either you can leave, or you can sit down, and let Kyouko and I finish the ceremony."

Shou blinked. His temper flared. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm here to take Kyouko away with me. I will go against you, Tsuruga Ren!"

Ren's face darkened. Demon Lord appeared. Shou actually took a step back upon seeing the Demon Lord's scornful face.

Kyouko touched his arm and he turned to stare at her. She shook her head and he softened a little.

"Shoutarou, please leave if you didn't come here to wish me my happiness. I won't ever leave with you. I love Kuon –Ren—. If you won't leave, I'm afraid that I'll have to make you leave even if it's by force," Kyouko stated coldly.

Kyouko and Ren didn't have to deal with Shoutarou any longer. Lory had the securities came and forcefully dragged Shoutarou away. They could still hear him shouting, "Let me go! Kyouko's mine! I came to take her away with me. She won't be happy with Tsuruga Ren!"

Kyouko and Ren sighed in almost unison. They bowed to the attendees and apologised for what had just happened. The ceremony was resumed and when they kissed to seal their union in marriage, people inside the church cheered for them.

* * *

Fuwa Shoutarou kept shouting out that Kyouko belonged to him even after the securities thrown him out of the church. He tried to fight them but they were too strong for him.

People outside the church started surrounding him and pitied him for that.

"Oh my, he's still so young yet he's turned mental just because Kyouko-chan got married."

"Poor guy!"

"I'm not crazy," Shou shouted at them. "I'm Fuwa Shou and Kyouko has always been mine."

They sympathised with him even more.

"See! Now he's claiming to be Fuwa Shou."

"Someone got to call the mental hospital to pick up their escaping patient."

Shou growled. "Are you deaf? I'm not mental."

"_Omawari-san_, you came at the right time!" someone shouted to the policeman who had just arrived upon seeing the ruckus.

"Yes, what's going on?" the police officer asked with concern though he looked confused.

"This guy here is claiming to be Fuwa Shou and kept yelling that Kyouko-chan is his. I think he's just escaped from a mental hospital."

"Shut up, you _obasan_! I'm not crazy." Shou glared at the middle aged woman who'd called for the police guy. "And Kyouko is mine from the start."

People around had started whispering again, "Poor guy."

Without chitchatting and debating further with Shou, some guys helped the police to restrain Shou for they thought he would go berserk.

* * *

"Shou, I can't believe that I have to pick you up at a mental facility." Shouko sighed. "And they won't allow me to get you out from here. They said that they needed to do some psychology tests or something before they could decide whether or not to let you out. What did you actually do?"

Shou grunted. He didn't want to answer.

Shouko scowled at him. "Don't tell me you started stalking Kyouko-chan again? It's not true right? She's getting married today and you've just arrived in Japan. You couldn't have known."

That made Shou stared at her. His eyes flickered towards the door and bit back a frustrated groan when he realised that he couldn't get out of the room. There was a picture near the door stated that the door could only be opened from the outside so if the visitor wanted to get out, he or she had to press the bell to alert the ward guardian. "Get me out of here."

"So you can go to taunt Kyouko-chan? You still haven't given up?" Shouko asked in disbelief. "If so, then I'd rather you stay here for a while."

"Shouko, I'm not crazy. I'm healthy. Those guys were just making assumptions."

"Really? Now even I doubt it. Unless you promise me that you're not going to crash Kyouko-chan's wedding."

Shou pressed his lips tight. "I already went there. I just need her to open her eyes and come back to me."

Shouko gaped. "Shou! You need to see reality. She's moved on so why haven't you?"

"No, no! Kyouko must have been forced by Tsuruga to marry him. You have to help me, Shouko." Shou stood up and about to walk towards Shouko when he realised his feet was chained onto the chair.

Shouko took several steps back and rang the bell. The ward guardian asked from the other side of the door, "Yes, Miss? You've finished?"

"Yes."

"Shouko! Shouko!" he shouted when Shouko got out from the room. She swivelled and talked to him via the tiny window on the door.

"Shou! I'm not going to scold you or baby you. You need to think with clearer mind. Maybe it's good that you stay here for a while," Shouko said with a hint of sadness on her face. "I hope you recover soon and back to becoming the Shou I know."

"Damn!" Shou punched the desk before him hard but Shouko was already out of his sight.

* * *

Shou stayed at the mental facility for several months. The psychiatrist and the psychologist actually didn't find anything wrong with him through the tests they had conducted. He behaved like a normal person. The psychologist concluded that he was overly obsessed with the actress Kyouko for he couldn't have the woman.

The psychologist set him up on some therapies in order to help him get over his obsession. When the psychologist found Shou obsession was subdued from their therapy sessions, he decided to let him out of the facility.

When Shou was in the mental facility, he still wrote many songs he planned to record after he got out of there. There wasn't any television or media communication there so he had to improvise. He told himself that even a normal person could become crazy staying in this facility for the lack of entertainment media.

He took a deep breath to the freedom when he stepped out from the facility. He saw Shouko from afar. His manager smiled and waved at him. He waved back.

Shou had decided to depart to the States and stayed there for good. Maybe distance would help him forget about Kyouko. He had to move on though it was still painful. He regretted that he didn't treat her well when she was still his friend and now she was another man's wife.

He resisted crying when they drove passed the city. Kyouko's posters in many poses seemed to be everywhere and seemed to patronise and taunt him. He had to admit that she'd done a good job in Japan showbiz.

His last request to Shouko before he departed to US was to help him send a congratulatory card to Kyouko and Tsuruga Ren. Shouko had hesitated but she saw that Shou had matured so she agreed to it.

* * *

"I'm home. Kyouko, are you in?" Ren asked when he got home from his job. It was already 8 at night.

Silence.

Ren smiled and headed towards their bedroom. He saw Kyouko sat leaning against their bed's headboard whilst reading a card.

"Kyouko, I'm home," he slowly said.

Kyouko lifted up her head and smiled at him. "Hey, welcome home, Kuon."

"What are you reading?" He walked over and sat beside her.

"A card. Mori-san delivered it just now. No name but I think I know who sent this." She handed the card to him.

Ren took the card and read it. It said, 'Congratulations on your and Tsuruga's marriage. I know it's late and I'm sorry for that. I'm sorry that I made a ruckus on your wedding day. I'm sorry that I took you for granted when you had done so much for me. I didn't even say thanks to you. Thank you for all you'd done for me in the past. Also, I'm truly sorry and I hope you will forgive me, Kyouko. I know I don't deserve your kindness after all that I'd done to you. I have decided that I will stay in the USA for good. Oh and I would like to congratulate you on your success in showbiz. You win! I admit to my defeat though I would of course work hard to build my name in US. P.S.: To Tsuruga Ren, please take care of Kyouko!'

"Fuwa Shou, isn't it?" Ren put the card on the bedside table.

Kyouko smiled and nodded.

"Took him long enough to man up and admit his defeat." Ren chuckled. "You win, Kyouko."

"Well, I don't care about that anymore. I think you know that?" Kyouko nudged him on his side.

He grinned and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He leant down and kissed her on her mouth. His other hand rubbed her bulging tummy softly. She was currently at 18th weeks into her pregnancy. "Uh huh, I knew but I'm still happy that he admitted defeat. Though if it's up to me, I'd drag him here and made him pay for his debt. He was supposed to kneel down before you whilst admitting to his defeat."

"Hmm? I don't remember about him making that promise." Kyouko frowned. "Though I would want to when I first challenged him."

"He didn't make that promise. I'm sure of it. I made him agree to it for his side of bet. I know your side of bet; you'd go back to Kyoto and be _naka'i_ in his family's _ryokan_ for good if you lose. I just thought that he had to play fair."

Kyouko giggled. "It's really okay now. At least, he admitted it. That's enough. Ouch…" She was stunned. "Did you feel it?"

"Yes. It's his first kick. He'd be a handful baby." He looked amused as well.

"You're so sure that it's a boy?" Kyouko grinned. "Then what if we name him 'Shou'?" She jokingly said.

Ren was horrified. "You've got to be kidding."

"Not the same character. I mean Shou as in the 'wing' or 'fly'." Kyouko wiggled her brows suggestively.

"NO!"

Kyouko laughed. "I was only teasing you."

"Phew! You almost gave me a heart attack." He ruffled her hair and kissed her hard. "Why would I want another Shou even if it's just a name after I got rid of one?" He bit her nose playfully.

"Told you I was just teasing you." She snickered. "Moreover, why would I want to name him Shou when my husband's stage name 'Ren' ranked the first as the most popular baby boy's name in Japan? Shou, that means 'wing' or 'fly', only ranked the 17th."

"Eh, really?" He grinned.

"Yes. I found out when I looked up for baby's names online. And I agreed with you, no 'Shou' for the baby's name even though there is no longer hard feeling between us and him after that card, right?"

Ren laughed. "You bet."

They could at last feel relieved that they could completely move on from their past and they could safely say that they finally got rid of Fuwa Shoutarou.

* * *

**A/N : This is the LAST chapter of this story. I do not plan for a sequel at all. So, as I've stated, it's very long and might seem express to some of you. Also, I'm sure you have many questions towards what I had put in this chapter. I've stated it before, I always do RESEARCHES before I put things in my fic. I want the fact is as authentic as it can be. This is the shortest continuous fic I've ever written though if you paid attention, every chapter got at least 5000 words, not including my notes.**

**Oh yeah, for this fic, I used the song suggested to me by ZionX in regard to Shou's regrets. The song is "When I Was Your Man" by Bruno Mars. Thanks for the suggestion, mate.**

**Thanks to those who had reviewed for chapter 6. Thank you for reading, reviewing, subscribing and favouring to this fic! I'd have to finish the other one as well.**

**I'm adding my last words on Kyouko's last behaviour in this chap. I used to hesitate writing her having sex before marriage and that she'd want to do that without role interference, but if we read carefully in SB manga, Kyouko's a closet pervert! LOL. She knew things like Tortoise shells, oshikirizu (punishment goods) whilst an adult like me didn't even have any idea what that is and had to Google it and finally knew that she meant BDSM! Man, Kyouko...you surprised me! That's what I thought. :D From her recent behaviour in SB manga, one could only conclude though if you find her as OOC for that, I apologise. It's a matter of how we interpret it. We all have different POV on this matter. You could only find this kind of her in this fic only of all my fics. I had to write it with role interference in 'Gokko' right? :) **

**Thanks to Shiroyuki76 for proofreading this chapter. :)**

* * *

**Note on terms:**

**Hentai yarou : ****abnormal (perverted)**** bastard**

**Niwatori otoko : rooster guy**

**Omawari-san : policeman **

**Obasan : Auntie (usually used to address older women, not just for family relative)**

**Shou (****翔****) :****wing, fly**

**Fuwa Shou (****不破****尚****) : yet, still, greater, further, in addition**

* * *

**Note on Japanese Law in regard to sexual consent and child welfare law, guardianship (so then it sits right with my conscience in writing about the lemony/limey act above):**

**Quoted from ageofconsent japan, wikipedia as follow :**

**Ages for legal purposes**

**Article 2 - Definitions**

**For the purpose of this Law, a "child" means a person under the age of 18 years.**

**Age of majority**

**The Article 3 of the Japanese Civil Code states that the age of majority is twenty (20) years old.**

**Age of consent for sexual activity**

**The Article 177 of the Penal Code puts the age of consent for sexual activity at thirteen (13) years.**

**Age of consent for marriage**

**Articles 731 and 737 of the Civil Code provide that the age of consent for marriage is eighteen (18) years for men, and sixteen (16) for women.**

**But when a minor wants to get married, he or she needs the consent of his or her parents.**

**Article 34 of the Child Welfare Law**

**"Any person shall not do any of the following acts: …(6) act of inducing a minor to be engaged in sexual activities … "**

**Inducing a minor who is less than eighteen (18) to be engaged in sexual activities is subject to punishment under the Child Welfare Law. According to Japanese Court cases, "inducing a minor to be engaged in sexual activities means an act of working on a minor to have intercourse or analogous conducts (including oral and anal sex) with him or her, or with someone else by exerting influence on the minor virtually.**

**The national age of consent in Japan is 13 as specified by the Japanese Penal Code Articles 176 and 177. However, prefectures can have ordinances that prohibit sexual activities with any minor under 18. **

**Tokyo's "Youth Protection Law" prohibits adults from having sex with youths who are under 17 years old. (as quoted from : ****legal .3yen .com** )

'**Rape', Art. 177 Penal Code 'A person who, through violence or intimidation, has sexual intercourse with a female person of not less than thirteen (13) years of age commits the crime of rape and shall be punished with imprisonment at forced labour for a limited term of not less than two years. The same shall apply to a person who has sexual intercourse with a female person under thirteen (13) years of age.'**

**'Indecency through compulsion', Art. 176 Penal Code 'A person who, through violence or intimidation, commits an indecent act upon a male or female person of not less than thirteen (13) years of age shall be punished with imprisonment at forced labour for not less than six months nor more than seven years. The same shall apply to a person who commits an indecent act upon a male or female person under thirteen (13) years of age**

_**Author Note on this Note: Contradicting much! Also, about Kyouko's guardianship. According to the law that I didn't put it here, what Saena did to Kyouko was child abuse in form of 'neglect' so by law, she technically had LOST all her rights as Kyouko's guardian/parent therefore Morinozuka or other adult can apply as her legal guardian. **_

* * *

**Note on Koo's name:**

**In Skip Beat's official character book by Nakamura Yoshiki sensei, Kuu's name in Roman Letter is ****written with**** "**_**Koo Hizri"**_**. Kuu is how Japanese spelt Koo and written in ****Japanese**** Katakana as ****クーヒズリ****(word processor form is Kuu Hizuri). ****Similarly, Kuon's name would be "**_**Kuon Hizri**_**" in actual Roman letter.**

* * *

**Note on Baby's name:**

**The thing I put up there is TRUE. I didn't make it up. You can look it up at women. benesse. ne. jp/event/hakase/rank2010/namae. html (Japanese page)**

**'Ren' ranked no 1 for the most popular baby boy's name in 2010 whilst 'Shou' with character that means 'wing' or 'fly' is in the 17th place. **


End file.
